Spiral of Darkness
by Enkatsu
Summary: “Why is it called a fork?” Shinji said. “It’s not even remotely close to a fork… You can’t just pick it up and fork things with it so why call it that? Why not a spoon or a watermelon or something…?”
1. Chapter 1

Well, this is my first attempt at writing, but, oh well… Nothing to do but to start.

Disclaimer -- Do I really need to say it? I don't own it, yet…

This is basically a retelling of Neon Genesis Evangelion but with a different personality for Shinji. It's been done, I know, but reading a lot of the others out there actually got me interested in doing one myself. If this sucks, then I'm sorry, if not then, well, I won't be. Anyways read on and tell me what you think…

A.N: "Talking"

'Thinking'

AT 12:30 P.M. A SPECIAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IS BEING DECLARED FOR THE ENTIRE CENTRAL KANTO REGION, WITH THE TOKAI DISTRICT AT THE EPICENTER. ALL RESIDENTS SHOULD QUICKLY AND CALMLY EVACUATE TO THEIR DESIGNATED SHELTERS. WE REPEAT – AT 12:30 TODAY…

"Everything's stopped… what the hell am I supposed to do? Even the phone's broken…" an individual muttered to himself. It was a kid who looked about fourteen who said it. He was dressed in a pair of black pants with a white shirt and he had black hair that went down to just above his eyes. Overall, he seemed like a pretty normal kid.

As he walked down the steps of the train station he continued muttering, "Just great, it just had to be when I actually have something to do…" So intent was he with his muttering that he somehow failed to notice the giant green abomination off in the background, or the multitude of military armaments trying to destroy it. That is, until a missile veered off course and detonated near him.

"The hell!" he thought as he was engulfed in flames.

Several seconds later he walked out of the inferno. "Damn it! I just bought these clothes!" he ranted as he patted down his smoldering shirt.

Just then a car pulled up and the door was thrown open. "Hurry Shinji, get in!" a young purple haired woman shouted at him.

"Who the hell are you?" was his only response as he faced her.

"Gah! Don't be an idiot! Didn't you get my picture!" She yelled back.

'Picture?' He pulled something out of his pocket and looked at it. "So you're Misato?" He asked after looking back and forth for a few seconds.

"Yes, I am, now get in this… LOOK OUT!" She yelled as a giant slab of concrete was blown towards him by yet another missile.

"What?" he asked as it reached him as several tons of building smashed into him and broke apart.

"Oh my god! Are you alright!" she screamed. "Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, clearly confused. She was frozen in shock until he said, sitting next to her, "Shouldn't we leave?"

"Oh um right… yeah… let's just get out of here…" 'What the hell was that!' Misato stepped on the gas and sped off down the road. 'That was just way too weird… Damn, I need a drink…' They drove on for several minutes in silence. 'Oh man, don't tell me this one's like Rei, maybe I should try and get him to talk…' She was about to say something when he interrupted with a single word; "Incoming."

"What?" She managed to yell out before another missile detonated behind them. They flew forward a few feet as the car landed on its roof.

"Ungh…" Misato muttered as she pulled herself out of the wreckage. "Geez – are they shooting blind! You alright, Shinji?" She asked before thinking, 'what the hell am I thinking, this kid's probably as tough as an Eva…'

"Aieeeeee!" She yelled as she looked at the smoldering wreck that was once a car. "Noooooooo! The body's riddled with shrapnel! And I've still got **_Thirty-Three _**payments left on her! God damn it! Oh, no! This dress cost a fortune! These stains will never come out. Yeeeek! My shades are pulverized!" 'What a weirdo…' Shinji thought to himself as his attention was caught by a more pressing matter. That being a giant green… thing about to land on them. Fortunately a large purple robot shoulder tackled it out of the way.

As the purple behemoth turned and looked at them, Shinji just faced it and stared into its eyes. They continued to look at each other until the giant broke eye contact and looked away. It reached out one giant hand and flipped the car right side up. Their eyes met one final time before Shinji stepped into the car and it sped off. 'What the hell was that?' Misato thought to herself as she had witnessed the whole strange event. 'On second though, maybe I don't want to know…'

The purple giant looked at the car as it sped off before the green monster returned the favor and tackled the purple one into a building. It was able to stand but was only dropped again as the monster resumed the offensive.

"She ran…" he said once the purple giant was recovered.

'We knew this was going to happen…!' Misato muttered to herself. 'It's just too heavy a

burden for Rei right now…'

'Wait, She!' Misato thought. 'How the hell did he know?' She then looked at her watch and panicked. "Tuck your head into your lap and brace yourself for impact!" She yelled at him right before a single object dropped towards the green monster and detonated with a light as bright as a thousand suns. The shockwave blew the small car a very long distance forward before finally landing, upside down, again…

"Are you alright?" Shinji asked once they stopped moving. Misato then burst into tears saying "I – I can take this anymore…!" Her crying stopped as Shinji walked out and flipped the car back onto its wheels. She just stared again before sighing, and drove off again.

"For what purpose does my 'father' need me?" Shinji finally asked after several more minutes of silence. They had arrived in a large building and the car was currently on an elevator. "I thought that bastard had forgotten me completely." He continued. "Perhaps it would be better to ask your father directly, eh?" Misato said.

"What does he do here?"

"You don't know?" She asked. He just shook his head. "He's the commander of NERV, which is mankind's last hope against monsters like the green giant that nearly squished us who want nothing but the extinction of the human race."

"We're on our way to see him, aren't we?"

"You're not comfortable with your father, are you?"

"It's not that, it's just that ever since that bastard abandoned me to whatever hell fate had in store for me, I had sworn that he would pay for it. And seeing that he seems to lead the defense against these, um…"

"Angels." Misato put in.

"Right, angels, I guess it would cause problems if I ripped off his head." He finished with a straight face.

'Jeez that's scary… I better not get him mad.'

Shinji noticed the expression on her face and said, "Don't worry; I'm only dangerous to anyone stupid enough to become my enemies. I wouldn't hurt you otherwise, trust me."

"Um right…" she answered, slightly unnerved that he had basically read her mind.

"Oh and don't worry, I can't read your mind." He said then laughed at her astounded expression.

"What? Then how did you do that?"

"That's basically what everyone I tell that to thinks, I just guess what you would imagine by your expression and confuse you."

"All right, I understand that, but why do you do it?"

"Just because it's funny."

The conversation ended as the car reached an open area with buildings that seemed to grow out of the sky. "What is this!" he asked "Holy, it's a real Geofront!"

"Yup!" She answered. 'At least he still gets surprised…' "Our secret base of operations – Nerv HQ. The keystone for the resurrection of the world… and the stronghold of humanity!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Shinji burst into laughter as Misato finished. "What are you laughing at?" She asked him. "Ha ha, that was a great speech and all, but probably not as good as it could have been if you didn't read it off of the piece of paper you're trying to hide in your hand!"

"Hey! That's not fair! You were supposed to be too busy looking outside to notice that," she complained as they arrived. The walked down a long corridor in silence.

'I still wonder what it is that he wants me for…' he thought.

"Misato?" He then asked

"What is it?" she replied

"We've been walking for a while now, aren't we there yet?" At first he had thought that the area was just very large, however, after fifteen minutes of walking and seeing the same area over and over, he decided to ask.

"Wha…?" She stuttered. 'Damn, he noticed. I really, really hope he isn't the easily angered type…'

"You got us lost, didn't you?" he stated.

"No!" she yelled out just a little too panicked and quickly for being believable.

"Hmm…" he said as he stared at her evenly.

'Ahh! What am I going to do' she screamed at herself, being driven to near hysteria by his gaze alone. Thankfully for her, her savior arrived on the scene with the loud VWOOMSH of an opening door. "You two! Where are you going?" a blonde woman in a lab coat called out to them. Both of whom were being addressed turned towards the source. Shinji half turned his head and looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a look of extreme disinterest. Misato, however, jumped at and hugged her as if she would somehow be able to protect her if the young man near her went insane.

"What the…? Get off of me Captain Katsuragi!" she yelled to the woman cringing behind her. "Oh!" she said as she noticed who remained facing her. "So this is him? The Third Child?" She asked.

'Third Child? What the hell does that mean?' he thought to himself, and seeing no reason not to ask, he did. "What are you and what the hell are you talking about? As far as I knew, I was an only child."

'Jeez… I can see why Misato seemed to be afraid of him. Where's section two when you need them…' "I'm Ritsuko Akagi from the first engineering division – the supervisor of project E. Pleased to meet you."

"Ha ha ha!" He laughed again, which greatly confused both women. "Pleased to meet you? Ha ha ha… maybe you shouldn't be 'pleased' when you're shaking…"

"Yeah Ritsuko," Misato taunted, "there's no need to be afraid of this kid!"

"Hey! If you don't remember, you were the one cowering behind me when I got here!"

"Oh man!" He continued to laugh. "I'll never get tired of messing with people's minds like that!"

"I should apologize, however," he said after he caught his breath.

"For what?" The blonde woman asked.

"I fear that in my quest for entertainment, I might have acted rude towards you. For that I apologize. My name is Shinji Ikari; it is an honor to meet you." He finished with a slight bow towards Ritsuko. "I also feel I must apologize for scaring you like that, Captain Katsuragi, I can honestly say I mean no permanent harm to either of you." He finished.

'He doesn't seem like a bad kid, even with his twisted sense of humor' Ritsuko thought. 'I can barely believe that he's related to the Commander.' "Come along Shinji. There's something I want to show you before you see your father." She informed him after the shock of his introduction wore off.

"Something to show me, very well then, lead the way." He replied.

They walked a short distance before arrive in a pitch-black room. "Well, we're here. This is it. It's dark so watch your step." Ritsuko spoke as she and the others entered the room.

As the lights were thrown on with a loud KLANK, Shinji found himself facing the demonic face of the purple giant. "Oh," he said. "So she's the one who helped us out earlier, Captain?" he then asked Misato.

'Again with the She? That's it, I'm asking!' "Um… Shinji, what makes you think this robot's a girl?" Funny how much braver one is in their own mind…

"What? Well, aren't big machines like this normally referred to as female?" He replied after a bit of thought.

"It's true, Misato." Ritsuko added.

"That and the pilot was female as well, right?" To this, both women stared at him incredulously.

"B… But how did you know!" Both Misato and Ritsuko demanded of him.

"Oh so I was right…" he said to himself.

"Damn it! Just answer!" Misato shouted at him.

"What?" he said. "But you are the one who said it!"

"I never told you anything!"

"Well not me but you were thinking that it was 'too heavy a burden for Rei right now…' right?"

"I knew it!" Misato shouted in a mixture of triumph and fear. "You can read minds!"

"Are you insane Misato! That is physically impossible!" Ritsuko shouted.

"Yeah!" Shinji quickly added. "I didn't read your mind about that, you just muttered to yourself and I assumed that 'Rei' was a girl's name.

"So what is she?" Shinji asked.

"Hey!" Misato told him. "It's very rude to ask what someone is if you don't even know them!" To which she received a blank stare from Shinji and Ritsuko.

"I meant the huge purple giant that left that huge hand mark on your car on the way here." The reminder of her car's fate shut her up long enough for him to state his observation as to the big purple giant.

"So is this what NERV is? A base of operations for these, um…?"

"They are known as Evangelions. And they are Humanity's last chance. This one is the first unit."

"So these Evangelions are what fight those, um, Angels, was it?

"That's correct." A voice boomed down from a higher level. A voice that made Shinji's blood boil and his murderous rage rise to the surface. However, years of training helped him quell the rising urge to end this bastards' life. At least until he full understood the situation. Misato and Ritsuko, standing so near him, instinctively took a step back from the feeling emanating from him.

"It's been a while." The man spoke again. Shinji turned upwards at him and rested the full power of his gaze on the man who had abandoned him as a child to what amounted to hell itself. His voice, however, did not betray him.

"Father." He said simply, with a cold indifference that the man before him could never hope to match.

"Shinji," he began again, slightly unnerved. "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. You're going to ride in her. You're going to battle the Angel!"

"Hmm..." was all he was able to say before Misato intervened.

"Wait a moment Commander!" She shouted as she pushed past Shinji. It took even Rei seven months to synchronize with the Eva—remember? A boy who just arrived today? Its Impossible!"

"He only needs to sit in her." He replied "I'm not expecting more at this point"

"But…!" Misato said

"Captain Katsuragi!" He cut her off. "Our over-riding priority is to halt and repel the angel! In order to accomplish that, it is imperative that we load someone, no matter who, in the unit — someone who may have the ability to synchronize to some extent with the Eva! Or do you have any alternatives you'd like to share!"

"You want me to ride this thing, and fight to the death with that giant green monstrosity out there!" Shinji demanded.

"Just accept this explanation. You're the best candidate we have." The commander told him. "No." he continued. "You're the only candidate we have."

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Shinji started laughing again. "Do you have any idea why I came here, 'Father'? I'll tell you. It was to confirm what I felt."

"What are you talking about?" the commander asked, with a very slight hint of fear as he felt his son's gaze on him.

"I came to see whether the bastard who abandoned me really was the cold hearted man I imagined him to be or if he was just another poor fool dragged around in the current of fate. And judging by what I see before me, you are nothing but a pathetic piece of trash that is standing before me! And you have the guts to demand I obey you after the hell I was put through?" Shinji finished this shouting at the commander, his voice heavy with grief and barely contained rage. "I refuse to listen to your foolishness any longer! If this is what you wanted of me, then you have wasted both of our time!" Shinji turned and started to walk away as the commander said.

"Fuyutsuki, wake Rei! The spare is unusable!"

"No way in hell…" he muttered to himself after hearing that. He turned his head as he saw a heavily injured woman with light blue hair and brilliant crimson eyes was wheeled into the area.

The commander now addressed the woman, "Rei… our only back up is useless. You must pilot the Eva again."

"Yes sir." She replied as she slowly began rising from the bed. Only to be stopped as Shinji walked up to her and placed an arm on her uninjured shoulder.

She turned to look at him and was met with a gaze filled with compassion at her condition.

"You are the one who save be earlier are you not?" he asked as he gently lowered her onto the stretcher again. Then, without waiting for a reply continued. "I thank you for that, even if you were ordered to do so." Her eye widened slightly seeing as how that was exactly was she was thinking. "Please just relax and leave the rest to me. I will protect you." He turned towards the commander and was about to say something when an explosion shook the facility and a huge iron beam was dislodged and fell towards them. He steadied the bed with a single arm as the explosion hit, so that she would not accidentally fall off the bed. He seemed not to notice the giant iron rain of death until it was almost on him. He raised a single fist and the beam smashed into it. It bent with the force of the blow and cracked in several place, but his arm did not so much as move. Everyone stared at this amazing feat with wide eyes and open mouths, including the commander and the young pilot he shielded with his own body. He looked down at her and said, "I swear it." He shook his arm and lobbed the steel on his arm into the water on his side. It splashed but not a single drop hit the woman on the bed. He turned towards his father again and said; "Is this how far your depravity goes! Are you willing to sacrifice people like this so easily! Do you have any idea how disgusting you are!"

"Shut your mouth!" The commander shouted. "You have no idea what…"

"No! You shut up! I'm tired of hearing your voice! Listen to me well, 'Father', I will pilot this thing for now, however, when all seventeen angels are destroyed, and SEELE shows their true intentions, if you are still the weak pathetic fool you are now, I will kill you myself!"

"…" was what the whole room said.

"Now how do I pilot this thing." He demanded.

"Um… Come this way Shinji…" Ritsuko muttered, still in awe of his showdown with the commander. He was led to a long white tube which he was told was the Evangelion's entry plug. He sat inside and waited for something to happen. What he wasn't expecting was for the chamber to start suddenly filling with some strange liquid. Of course, he reacted as calmly anyone else would have in this situation.

"What the hell is this!" he demanded. Or not.

"It's called LCL." Ritsuko told him over the intercom. "Just breathe in a big lungful and it will oxygenate your blood directly."

"Main power connected! All circuits fully functional! Initiating power-up sequence! A10 Neural synapses operating within normal limits! First contact all clear! Opening reciprocal circuits."

"This is incredible…" Ritsuko said. "Synchro errors are within 0.3! It's going to work!"

"Evangelion Unit-01! Prepare to launch!" Misato shouted.

"Jeez, Captain, you don't need to shout! The com link is open!" Shinji said.

"Releasing safety locks one through fifteen!"

"Internal battery fully charged!"

"External power outlet nominal!"

"Transporting Eva unit-one to the launch elevator!"

"Launch path clear!"

"All green!"

"Launch preparations are complete."

"Roger!" Misato answered.

"Commander Ikari! Do we proceed?" She asked. The commander just stared back with an annoyed expression and simply said, "Of course."

She nodded in reply turned around and shouted, "LAUNCH!"

The Eva shot out of the launch tube and rocketed towards the streets. As soon as it arrived, it was faced by the Angel.

"Damn!" Misato shouted. "It's as if it knew what we were planning! Shinji, concentrate on walking right now!"

"How do I do that?" he asked.

"Just concentrate on the concept of walking. All you have to do is think it!"

"Okay." He said as the mech started walking forward.

"He -- he did it!" Ritsuko exclaimed.

"He's up and at 'em!" Misato exclaimed.

"So all I have to do is think, and it happens?"

"Yes just think things through and you'll be fine!"

The Evangelion went from a slow walk, into a full charge straight at the Angel. The Angel swung at the Eva but it jumped over it, did a half spin in mid-air, and faced it about a city-block away. "Wow! That was amazing!" The bridge crew exclaimed. "How did he do that?"

"Hey, does the Eva have external speakers?" he interrupted.

"Yes, they're the fifth switch from the left, why?" Ritsuko answered.

He reached over and flipped the switch. "Hey, you!" he called towards the Angel, "before I fight you, tell me your name!"

"Shinji! Don't be stupid!" Misato yelled. "Just kill it already!"

"No," he said. "I refuse to take the life of a sentient being with out knowing their name."

"Pilot!" The commander shouted. "Get on with your job and cease this foolishness!"

"I already know your name." Shinji told him, which shut him up immediately.

The Angel roared at Shinji and those watching thought it to be out of anger but it actually said something, 'Sachiel.'

"Heh…" Shinji said through the external comm., "My name is Shinji Ikari! Take it as a final gift to the afterlife." He charged it and attacked. Sachiel threw a punch at Shinji which he countered with a forearm strike. He kicked it in the stomach and slammed it towards a building. Seeing an opportunity he charged it, only to be blasted back by a huge energy beam. The Angel pounced on the disoriented Eva holding its arms. It blasted what seemed like an energy rod repeatedly into it's left arm. And by the fifth blast, the arm came off in the Angels hand.

"Ugh…" was all Shinji said. The crew, however, was a little more verbal.

"Oh my god!" Misato shouted. "Shinji! Are you all right."

"Damn it, what are the pilot's life signs?" Ritsuko demanded.

"His heart beat is increasing and I detect an increase in body temperature!" Ritsuko's assistant, Maya, said.

"Get me a visual feed of the pilot!" Ritsuko said.

"I can't doctor, all internal cameras have been shut down by the Pilot!"

"What?"

Back on the battlefield, Sachiel tossed the Eva's arm aside. Feeling content with itself it turned towards the silent machine. Only to back away very quickly. It did not know why, but it felt something that it had never felt in its entire existence, fear. Why it was afraid became obvious when the Eva stood. Its stump of a left arm bled profusely and created a large puddle below it, but it seemed not to notice. Its eyes glowed a bright yellow color and the mouth restraint snapped allowing the Eva to unleash a bone-chilling roar. Part anger and part grief. What truly frightened all who were unfortunate to hear it was the second voice entwined with the first. It came from the Eva's external speakers but it was what added the touch of grief to the unearthly screech.

"My god…" Ritsuko said. "What have we done…? Is it a Berserker? Or something infinitely more frightening…?"

It lunged forward and buried the whole of its fist in the Angel's body. It screamed in pain as the Eva pulled its arm out of the Angel, taking a sizable piece out with it. The Eva then struck the angel's mask like face, causing it to crack. It struck with a head butt, disorienting it long enough to slam it's arm forward again and grip the blood red orb in the angel's chest.

"Sachiel…" They heard Shinji's voice. "Forgive me…" He closed his fist and shattered it. Before it died, it growled once more, 'Thank you…' was its parting message as it detonated in a cross-shaped blast.

The whole bridge crew was in awe at what had happened. No once did they ever imagine the angels had minds of their own, and here, this young boy seemed to understand them. What no one noticed, was the single tear that the Evangelion itself seemed to shed, as it took upon it's master's grief and made it it's own.

TO BE CONTINUED

Well, there it is… I gave it my best shot. If any actually reads this. Please review it. Tell me what you like, what you didn't. If it seems that even one person actually found it interesting, I'll keep going. If not, then, oh well, I guess that's it.

Goodbye.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! I didn't actually think I would keep going. I started this just to get the idea out of my head, but people actually cared enough to read it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed for all the helpful comments. I'm going to try my best to make this as great as I possibly can.

Disclaimer -- I Disclaim NOTHING!

A.N: "Moo"

'Quack'

--------------------------------------------

"Ikari…" A man spoke. He and several others were seated around a table in a dark room. All were cast heavily in shadow, as if trying to hide their identity from each other.

"We demand an explanation as to the choice of the pilot of Unit-01"

"Yes…" another interrupted. "We see this as a problem. It seems you have chosen to give that… toy, to your own son…"

"Furthermore," a third put in, "he seems to have an… unhealthy amount of knowledge as to the angel's existence."

"We also can not look past the fact that he knows of us…"

"We wish for you to monitor this child. We can not have him become a threat to our ambitions."

"I understand." The commander of NERV said. "If he becomes dangerous, I will have him disposed of."

"Very good Ikari. We shall hold you to your word."

--------

"YAWN…" Shinji Ikari said as he sat up. 'Damn that was tiring…' he looked around the room to try and focus his mind. His inspection stopped when he realized the condition he was in. He was heavily bandaged and his arm seemed to have been set in a cast. 'Damn this is annoying' he thought. With one strike of his fist, he struck the plaster over his left arm and shattered it. 'Ugh…' he said when he saw the state of his arm. 'Just great, both of the bones in my forearm snapped.' He grabbed his arm and twisted and pulled on his arm, re-aligning the shattered bones. Without even flinching at the pain he inflicted on himself. He pulled off some of the bandages covering him and tied it around his arm. 'There.' He thought once he finished. 'That's a hell of a lot better and at least I can use it now.' He then got up in order to better asses the rest of his injuries. 'Hmm… one, two, three… five cracked ribs.' He said as her ran his hand across his sides. 'Everything else is minor.'

Feeling bored he decided to walk around after getting dressed. As he walked down one of the hospital's hallways, a bed wheeled past him. On it lay the blue haired girl he saw before the battle. It kept rolling until it was stopped in front of the commander. He leaned downward to speak to her before glancing up to see that his son was facing him.

Shinji smirked at his father, "Hope you get better soon, Ayanami!" he called out before walking away, completely ignoring the commander. This, obviously, infuriated him, but, as long as he was the only one who could pilot, that made him as good as invulnerable.

He walked forward for a bit, feeling pleased at having messed with the commander again before being called out to by a familiar voice.

"Hey there!" Misato said.

"Hello. What's up?" he responded.

"I came to pick you up! I heard you were injured pretty badly. How are you feeling?" She asked. 'Wait, wasn't his arm broken? What the hell? He looks perfectly fine…'

"Well, my arm got a bit messed up, but I'm perfectly fine."

"Gah!" she shouted. "Back you! Stay out of my head!"

"What?" he said confused. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Oh umm… nothing… yeah, that's it… ha ha ha…" She stammered. "Anyways, I've come to take you to your quarters."

"Oh, okay, that's fine…"

"The commander decided that you are to stay with me." She continued.

"Oh… wait, WHAT!" He shouted. "What kind of moron would agree to that?"

"Moron is it…?" She asked, a vein popping out on her forehead. "This one would."

"Oh… that explains it…" he told her.

'Why that little… If it wasn't for the commanders orders there's no way I'd even consider something like this!' She thought angrily to herself.

"So what?" he said as he interrupted her thoughts. "Did the commander order it or something?"

"Um… yeah…" 'Damn it! How the hell does he do that!'

She continued to rant in her head until she saw Shinji staring evenly at her.

"You're thinking that I'm reading your mind again, aren't you…?"

"N, no… NO of course not! Ha ha ha ha ha… I know you can't! Let's just get out of her…" 'Ugh… this is going to be harder than I thought…'

A few minutes later they were driving on the roads of Tokyo-3 towards Misato's apartment. "Hey Shinji?" Misato asked.

"Hmm…?"

"Why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I went through your personal files but there was almost nothing on them."

"About me? Maybe later." Was all he said.

'What the…? Here I am trying to be friendly, and he has to say something like that! Oh well, he must have a hard time opening up to people. Oh yeah! Maybe I should take him there!'

"Hey, I'm going to show you something awesome, okay?" she said with a lecherous smile. 'Maybe I can at least tease him a bit.'

"Sure." He said as he turned his head to look out the window.

'Damn! He was really talkative before he got in the Eva, and now he's completely silent! What the hell!'

They drove for a while before finally arriving at a cliff overlooking the city.

"Is this it?" Shinji asked, clearly unimpressed. "Doesn't seem to be anything here…"

"So impatient…" Misato chided. "Just wait a little bit." The words were barely out of her mouth when the actual reason for their visit became apparent. The skyline of Tokyo-3 began to slowly rise out of the ground. It was as if it could actually sense that the danger to its existence had long since passed. The backdrop of a setting sun contrasted amazingly with the image of the rising city. Needles to say, Shinji was indeed impressed.

"Wow…" he said. "The buildings are rising from the ground?"

Misato smirked at his awestruck face and told him: "Not just _any_ buildings – New Tokyo-3! This is the 'Anti-Angel Siege Fortress' Our city! More than that… the city you defended!"

"Heh…" he said. "I guess you memorized what was on the card Ritsuko gave you…"

"Huh! What gave you the idea that Ritsuko helped me with what to say just now!"

"I saw you reading something while we rode here."

"I did not!"

"Sure you did… when I was looking out of the window you were probably memorizing it. Which would explain why we nearly crashed about a dozen times…"

"Not fair!" she whined. "You're cheating!"

"Ha ha ha ha…" Shinji laughed on his way to the car. Before he stepped in, however, he turned towards her and said, despite the fact that those words weren't yours, I appreciate the fact that you went to the trouble of showing this to me. Thank you."

"Umm… Shinji, there's something I want to ask…" she said once they were on the road again.

"What is it?" he said.

"Why did you want to know the Angel's name?"

"Why?"

"Yeah…"

"Hmm…" he said as he thought for a few seconds. "I guess because I hate murdering."

"Murder!" She said. 'What the hell? He's killed!'

"Okay, let me put it this way. What is the difference between killing someone and murdering them?"

"What? I… I don't know…"

"Alright, listen to this then, what matters is that you consider your opponent as being equal to you. And if you can look your opponent straight in the eyes as the life flows out of them and tell them your name, or ask for theirs as you die, then that is not murder. Whether your motives are right or wrong is completely irrelevant." He told her. "Well, that's the best I can explain it anyway. My master taught me, but not really with words."

There was a few more minutes of silence before she gathered up the courage to ask; "Have you ever killed anyone…?" He turned towards her, seemed to stop and think for a few seconds, smirked at her, and then turned away again. Needless to say, that killed the possibility of further conversation.

As they finally arrived at the apartment complex where Misato lived, they went up a few floors until they reached her room. What Shinji witnessed as the door slowly creaked open was a sight that would frighten even the most hardened and experienced of warriors. Something even those accustomed to the sights, sounds, and smells of eviscerated corpses would pale at. Shinji stared in awe at what had to be the most frightening thing he had ever seen. Misato, however, being the progenitor of It, was completely unaffected.

"Hey, your stuff is here! To tell you the truth, I just moved here myself! Come on in! It's a _little_ messy but… " She said, completely unaware as to the state of near-shock that the young man next to her was currently experiencing.

'Wow, this is a little messy? I wonder how much worse it could get…'

"Just a sec…" she said. "I'll get dinner ready."

'Dinner?' he thought then said. "Don't worry about me, I'm not hungry."

"What!" She exclaimed. "You haven't eaten anything since you got here!"

"No, that's not true." He claimed as he picked up a water bottle, he covered his mouth with his hand to stifle a yawn, then drained it in one drink. "I ate the hospital food they gave me."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, and if you don't mind, I'm gonna take a shower then go to sleep." He walked out of the kitchen and headed for the bathroom. Not two minutes later he walked back in, said "This is yours" as he placed a penguin on the floor and walked back out.

'Aww…' she thought to herself. 'I was hoping PenPen would have surprised him at least a little. Oh well.'

A quick shower later, he walked back into the kitchen and asked, "Hey, where am I sleeping?"

'The perfect chance!' Misato's mind shouted at her.

"With me of course!" she told him, smiling seductively at him. A smile which faltered seeing as how his expression seemed to stay the same.

"Is that so…?" he said. His gaze intensifying with each passing second.

'Uh oh… Maybe this wasn't too good an idea after all…' "Gah! Stop staring at me like that! It was a joke!" She had lasted about thirty seconds before caving in and telling him where his room was. Unfortunately for her, he kept looking at her the same way. She was about to snap and either attack him or run away before… "Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh man! That's way too easy!" As he walked away, he saw her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed a bit shock at this sudden and completely random turn of events.

A few mornings later, as Shinji woke up, he was informed by Misato of an executive decision. "Shinji," she began, "It has been decided that you are to attend school while you are here."

"What for?" he asked.

"Well, believe it or not, I'm here to make sure you get a good education. The angels won't attack forever, and once that's done, you should be able to resume a normal life." 'Strange, I thought he would have at least complained a little…' "You start this morning. I got you a cell phone in case of emergencies."

One seemingly endless walk later, Shinji arrived at his destination. Despite the fact that he got lost for over an hour before realizing that he had gone in the opposite direction from the start.

As the teacher rambled on and on about something no one in class seemed to care the slightest bit about, they were finally snapped out of their state of pseudo-wakefulness by the classroom door opening.

'This place looks so boring…' Shinji thought as he walked into the class. 'Hey is that Ayanami? Didn't know she got out of the hospital already, or that she went to the same school as me.'

He talked with the old man for a few seconds before the teacher said, "Class, we have a new transfer student starting today." Then, addressing Shinji, said "Go ahead and introduce yourself."

'Man I hate talking in front of crowds…' "Hello." He began addressing the class. 'Ugh… do they have to stare…?' "My name's Shinji Ikari, it's, uh… nice to meet you all."

"Very good mister Ikari," the teacher said. "Just go sit over there and take notes" he said while directing him to a seat at the back of the room. Not five minutes later, Shinji was completely asleep, oblivious to all of the people whispering about.

"Say, did ya hear?" A random student asked another.

"Hmm?" Said random student answered.

"All the guy's have been talking about it…"

"About what?"

"You know, the boy who transferred in?"

"They say he's the pilot of that robot."

"What? You're kidding!"

"Are you serious?" Both random individuals flinched at the fact that one had accidentally screamed her line out.

"….." Was what the teacher said while looking straight at them. The two looked away from each other and pretended to be too busy taking notes to realize that they were being observed.

Meanwhile, a strange boy in the corner pushed his glasses up while suspiciously glancing off to the side…

"Hey Ikari! Got a minute?" Random girl #1 asked him once class was over.

"Wha…?" he asked after just being woken up.

"How come you transferred here just when people are starting to evacuate?" #2 asked.

"Huh? Well…" he managed to answer before being cut off.

"So the rumor's true isn't it?" She asked.

"Rumor…?" he said groggily, obviously not fully awake yet.

"Don't play dumb. The rumor that you're that robot's Pilot!" #1 pressed him for an answer.

"Is it true?" #2 added.

Shinji, only wanting to go back to sleep said, "Uh… yeah…" before his head slumped forward onto the desk. Unfortunately that was the worst answer he could have given.

"What, What?" Random guy #8 shouted across the room.

"Hey, everyone! It's true!" #2 announced to the class.

"He _was _in that robot!"

"That is so cool!"

"How'd they choose you?"

"Was there a test or something?"

"Say weren't you scared?"

"Does it have a special attack?"

The rambling went on and on but all Shinji was thinking was 'Damn I just want to sleep! Why are they so loud?'

What he did notice was the hostile voice calling him from the door. "You think yer all dat, but ya don't know nothin' do you? What are ya -- stupid?"

He turned towards the origin of the sound to see a kid in a track suit walk towards him. Slamming his hand on the desk, he said, "Yo! New kid! Step outside – Now!"

'Who the hell is this?' he thought as he followed the loud obnoxious guy out.

"Okay, new kid… listen up!" the loud obnoxious guy began as they arrived outside. "My younger sister was hurt _bad_ – she's still in da hospital! My dad and gramps work in _your_ lab, and I'm da only one who can stay with her!" While his ranting was taking place Shinji was thinking 'What the hell is he babbling about and how the hell does it affect me?'

"It ain't da goin' dere I mind…" the guy continued his tirade completely unaware that the person he was talking to was more or less ignoring him. "but supposin' she ends up with some scar --? She'll never be a babe! Don'tcha feel sorry for her? Whose fault d'ya think it was…?" At this statement, Shinji started paying attention, hoping he was finally getting to his point. Only to be surprised as the guy started shouting; "It's your fault! She was pinned under rubble because you had to go crashin' around! Don't think yer so hot just cause _they're_ all over ya!"

"Oh…" Shinji said, then said what he hoped would be enough to shut this guy up, "Sorry."

"You tryin' to make fun of me! 'Sorry' just don't cut it!" obviously, Shinji's statement did nothing more than get the guy angrier at him.

"H-hey, Toji! Enough already." The suspicious looking kid from earlier shouted to his friend as he tried to restrain him.

"What do you want me to do? Kneel down and beg for forgiveness?" Shinji said, getting very tired of this idiot's ranting.

"Why you…!" Toji growled and swung at Shinji's face. The strike collided with a solid _thunk _but seemed to have caused more damage to the fist than the face.

"Hmph…" Shinji said. "You're weak. Is that it or do you want to complain about how I stepped on your pet dog or something?"

"You bastard!" Toji shouted at him before swinging at him again. This time the strike was caught by Shinji. He twisted Toji's arm, tripped his leg, and dropped him to the ground while pinning him down with a knee to the back.

"Will you shut up already?" He commanded the prone boy below him. Do you know whose fault it is that your sister is injured? Yours! If you did your job as a big brother, and protected her, with your own life if necessary, then she would have never gotten hurt! Don't bring this whole 'It's your fault' crap to me because I don't care! My job is to kill the monsters coming to kill us! Whatever happens on the battlefield outside of that mission is completely meaningless to me. I don't care who does or does not get injured during a battle so shut your mouth and leave me alone!" He got off of the stunned Toji and walked away. On his dramatic exit from the scene he happened to notice Rei watching him from a third story window. He turned towards her, flashed a grin and a 'thumbs-up' before walking away.

'How strange.' She thought to herself. 'Where is he going? School has barely begun…'

--------

"Hey Shinji, how goes it?" Misato told Shinji over the intercom. It was later on in the day and Shinji had come in to NERV for a synch test.

"Not too bad…" Shinji replied from within the entry plug.

"Oh? I heard that you decided to skip out on school. Why is that?" she asked.

"Why? Well, I got into a sort of fight at school…"

"A fight!" she said sounding surprised. "What happened?"

"Well, not really a fight, I got punched in the face, knocked a guy into the ground, said some really cool heroic sounding things, and walked off into to the sunset!"

"Wha? Some excuse… just don't do it again…" Shinji's strange response had thrown her off balance and as such, did not react the way she would have normally done.

"Yes, yes, I'll try not to…"

"Sigh… I guess that's the best answer I'm gonna get out of you… Anyway, the Eva's exit gates, power sources, locations of armed buildings, and recovery sites… Have you memorized them all?"

"Yeah… More or less…"

"Good, we'll pick up where we left off yesterday… Start Induction Mode!"

"Umm… that's the target practice one right…?"

"Yes… just shoot already…"

The Eva had a great many cables sticking out of it, as well as an unloaded rifle for the simulation. The cables transmitted data to and from the entry plug allowing for combat training with out wasting money or destroying NERV property. Inside of the entry plug, the monitors were displaying an image of the Third Angel. Shinji would aim at the glowing red ball in the middle of the pseudo-Sachiel and fire the rifle. The round would shatter the red ball thing and the Angel would be considered destroyed.

"Wow…" Misato stared at the Eva's performance. "What's the accuracy of his shots?" Misato asked Ritsuko who had been in the control room the entire time. "He's shot forty rounds and killed thirty-six angels so about ninety percent…"

"Wait." Misato said after a few seconds of thought, "What's his synch ratio at?"

"Huh? Oh, only thirty-eight percent."

"Wouldn't that make him less accurate…?"

"I suppose so, but this brainwave feed shows that he's slowly falling asleep… I guess that would be the reason he missed four shots in a row…" Ritsuko said to Misato before turning back to her instruments then saying "I would think giving a teenager a Giant Bio-Mechanical Robot capable of destroying the world if the pilot would so wish it would be enough to keep them awake…"

"Yeah well, this seems to be the way he acts so I guess it's to be expected…" Misato told Ritsuko before walking forward to yell into the intercom, "Shinji!"

"What?" he asked after a few seconds.

"Stay awake!"

"I can't help it! After the fiftieth pretend-angel I shot, they all start to kind of blur together!"

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"Mr. Ikari!" The teacher yelled from the front of the room. It was the next class day and Shinji decided that the best use of his class time was to sleep.

"Wha…?" he said while failing to contain a forming yawn.

"Do you know what the answer to this problem is?" the teacher asked pointing at something that he had written up on the board with the sole intent to humiliate Shinji for daring to sleep in _his_ class. At this statement, a large portion of the class began talking amongst themselves. It turned out that a rumor started circulating as to the 'real' reason that the new kid slept during all of his classes. Many people were of the opinion that he already knew all of the materials covered in class because he was working with the government in order to find more Eva pilots. A rumor which was started by a brown haired kid with glasses who was dreaming of one day being a pilot as well.

"That problem..?" The whole class held their breath, expecting to see an astounding feat of intelligence from this mysterious kid. All of a sudden he spoke and said;

"I have no idea." Before slumping down to continue his nap. The whole class stared dumbfounded. Then slowly, as the shock of such an incredible demonstration of nothingness slowly wore off, heads started turning to the sole individual who foolishly entranced them all with such an obviously false hope. Shinji slept on, oblivious to the fate of the poor boy who was being beaten because he was too lazy to say the answer was twelve.

Later on at lunch time, Shinji wandered around looking for something to take his mind off of the depressing boredom he felt. Fortunately for him, the answer to his prayer was given in the form of a young, blue haired girl sitting against a fairly large tree. Shinji grinned to himself before walking over to the girl and calling out, "Hey there Ayanami! How's it going!"

'It's pilot Ikari, what does he want?' Rei thought to herself before saying, "Hello Ikari."

Unperturbed by her cold and indifferent answer he asked her, "Do you mind if I sit here?" while pointing at the big tree.

Rei, seeing no plausible way to deny him, was forced to agree. "If you wish…"

Shinji smiled at her again and then sat against the tree. Not right next to her, but close enough so that he could have talked with her if he had wanted to. What surprised her was that he made no attempt to start a conversation.

'What is it that he could want from me?' Rei thought to herself. 'Perhaps I should ask him.' She turned to speak with him but found him sleeping against the tree.

'He seems to sleep a great deal, I wonder if it is some sort of medical condition…'

While she was absorbed by her thoughts she failed to notice that a group of people playing baseball had accidentally hit the ball in the wrong direction and it was currently flying on a collision course with her face. She had no idea that anything was amiss until the young boy she had been pondering over shot up and extended his left arm in front of her. The oncoming ball collided with a resounding crack that made anyone who heard it, save for the one who actually experienced it, flinch.

"Are you okay?" he turned and asked her.

"I am fine Ikari." 'He protected me again, why does he keep doing that? I don't understand…' she answered him before thinking to herself.

"That's good." He said. He pulled up his shirt sleeve to inspect the damage done to him. When he unwrapped the bandage binding his left forearm, Ayanami let out a gasp at the condition of his arm. It was swollen and a bit discolored from the tight wrapping, but what surprised her was that the ball had twisted the previously broken bones out of alignment. Of course to Rei, who had no knowledge of his previous condition, it seemed as though the impact of the ball had shattered his arm.

'Damn!' he shouted to himself. 'And it wasn't even finished healing from the start!'

"You are injured…" Ayanami said to him. 'I do not understand why he allowed himself to be injured in this way, if the ball would have struck me in the face, it is doubtful that I would be hurt to the extremes that he was.' Being curious and without any reason not to ask, she did. Shinji's reply was a slight chuckle followed by "I said I wouldn't let you get hurt no matter what."

She was about to ask him why it was that she felt that he had to protect her when his next actions shocked her into silence. He grabbed his twisted arm in the same way he did when he awoke from the hospital and grinded the bones in his arm into place. He then rewrapped his arm with the bandage, flexing his fingers and moving his arm about to test them.

Ayanami continued to stare in shock as he stood, dusted himself off with both arms as if he was completely uninjured, and smiled at her again. He was about to say something to her as the angel alarm sounded.

--------

"All personnel prepare for level one combat!" Misato shouted from Central Dogma. Shinji and Rei had run to NERV headquarters after a phone call from Misato ordering them to report in.

"Shinji! Are you ready!" Misato called to him.

"I suppose so…" he answered.

"Neutralize the enemies A.T. field, then repeat fire. Just like in practice. Got it?" Ritsuko commanded.

"Fine…"

"… Eva-01 Launch!"

The Eva rocketed upward towards the surface to confront it. As he faced it, the order came from the command center, "Fire!" An order which he did not follow.

"What are you doing Shinji!" Ritsuko shouted at him, "Fire at it!"

"He won't." Misato said.

"What? Why the hell not?" Ritsuko demanded of her.

"Not unless he knows it's name…"

"What an idiot! Damn it Shinji! We don't have time for this! If you won't fight the angel, then get your ass back here so we can stick Rei in it!" Ritsuko turned her anger at Shinji while pointing at the aforementioned pilot who had just walked into the command center.

The Eva did turn, but did something completely unexpected; it opened fire at the camera they were using to observe the battle.

"Shinji! What the hell…"

"Shut up!" He shouted at the command center, "If you ever threaten Rei like that again, I will kill you. Since you do not allow me to fight in my own way, the blame for this death falls on your hands as well!"

They tried to talk with him again only to find out, "all communications have been cut-off from the inside!"

The Eva faced the angel again and opened fire. The rounds shattered on impact with the angels A.T. field, effectively bringing up a smoke screen of debris.

'Damn!' The pilot thought to himself. He was completely caught off guard when a pair of energy whips struck him. One in the left arm, and one around his right ankle. The struck with enough force to crack the armor on his Eva, which obviously was a very bad thing with a broken arm…

"Damn it! What the hell is wrong with him?" Ritsuko shouted. "Why is he firing that rifle with only one arm!"

"He can not use his left one." Rei answered her in her soft voice.

"What? Why the hell not!" She demanded of her.

"During break at school today, a ball was thrown at me. He intercepted it with his arm and it was broken on impact."

"Why didn't he inform anyone of this!" Ritsuko shrieked. "Force open a com-link I want to speak with the pilot!" she shouted to the command staff. Several seconds later, she had a communications port to Shinji.

"Shinji!" Misato and Ritsuko shouted at him.

"What!" he shouted right back.

"What the hell is wrong with you! Why didn't you tell anyone your arm was broken!"

"What gave you that idea?"

"Rei told us what happened! Now get back in here so we can form a new plan!"

"Heh, Ayanami talks too much… Anyway, shut up! I'm working!" His statement shocked the control room into silence. A few chuckled a bit at his little joke before the mood sobered up when they heard Misato yell at him, "Damn it! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Probably." Was his only response before communications were cut again.

To say the Eva wasn't faring well would have been an understatement. He was loosing, badly. When the Eva ran back to get a better shot, the rounds would ricochet and cause no damage. When he ran in to attack with his newly discovered progressive knife, he'd get energy-whipped and thrown backward.

'Damn it, Damn it, Damn it! What the hell! Nothing works…' he kept this attack pattern up for a few more repetitions before deciding that no change to this plan would yield different results. 'Wait, what did Ritsuko say, something about canceling its A.T. field…?' Shinji activated his own A.T. field and charged the Angel with his knife again, only to crash headlong against an invisible wall…

"What the hell happened!" Misato shouted at Ritsuko back at Central Dogma.

"I would guess that the Eva's A.T. field caused the Angel's to solidify…" was Ritsuko's only reply.

"How the hell is that possible!" Misato demanded.

"I don't know! And if that idiot had left his communications on, we might be able to form a plan!"

'Wait, a solid barrier?' Shinji thought to himself, "I wonder…' He ran back again and opened fire. The rounds struck the A.T. field and pierced a short way through. They remained stuck in it for a few seconds before that particular are of the barrier shut down long enough to drop the bullets.

'Yes! I think I got it!' He fired off a seven-round burst and hit in front of the core. It the A.T. field was a bulls-eye, then all of his shots would have hit the center about a foot from each other.

'Damn! I can't aim right with my arm messed up!' True to his words, the recoil from firing, however slight, was enough to throw off his aim, if only by a single degree.

'What can I… oh crap, this is going to hurt…' the Eva grabbed it's arm, placed its left hand at the base of the rifle, then nailed it in place with his progressive knife.

"Ow! What the hell is he doing?" Misato shouted at seeing what Shinji had done.

'Damn it this hurts!' Shinji shouted to himself. 'This better work…'

Shinji lifted his rifle, aimed along the sights, completely ignoring his computer suggested aiming, and fired off a six-round burst. The first hit right at the center of where the imaginary bull's-eye would be driving forward a small amount. The next hit exactly behind it, driving the first round forward. The next three rounds followed the same trajectory and pierced through the A.T. field. The final round, fired about a half-second after the first, scattered the spent rounds out of it's path and shattered the Angel's core. The Angel slumped forward, dead.

--------

"Why did you shut off all communications?" Misato asked Shinji. The fight was over and Shinji was being reprimanded for cutting himself of from the command center. "Don't you understand what would have happened if you hadn't figured out how to defeat the angel?"

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Happy?"

"'I'm sorry' isn't good enough! I'm your operations supervisor! You have an _obligation_ to follow my orders!"

"Obey you?" Shinji said.

"Yes! As your Commanding Officer…" she managed to say before being cut off.

"Don't be an idiot! I don't follow orders from anyone! Not yours and definitely not the Commander's. Besides, why the hell are you complaining to me for? I won didn't I!"

Misato stepped forward and delivered a right-handed slap to Shinji. "How dare you! Just _what_ do you think your duty is!"

There was a few seconds of silence before she said, " …That's all… Go to the hospital to have them look at your arm okay?"

Shinji walked towards the door and before it closed behind him, said to her in the same voice he used towards the commander, "Never thought you'd be stupid enough to become my enemy."

--------

"What!" Ritsuko shouted at Misato. "What do you mean he's been missing since yesterday!"

To Be Continued…

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Well, there it is! Part Two! I hope I did alright; anyway, at least I gave it my best shot. And hey, not too bad right, only about four days since my first post and I come up with something this long! Anyway, I'm trying really hard to come up with some interesting plot twists along the way. If anyone out there has any good ideas they'd like to see included, let me know. I could always use the help! Oh, and as for pairings, tell me what direction it should go and I'll see about it 'cause seriously, I'm not sure about that. I know I'm leaning towards one side now, but only because I just started this thing and if I can't think of anything good, I won't add any at all.

Later!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey there! I made it to part three! Is that fast enough, or what? Thanks also to everyone who's reviewed. All of the reviews I've been given, well, at least up to the point I wrote this helped me immensely as either encouragement or things I've actually done wrong, or could have done better. Well, I'll shut up for now. I'll say more when I'm done. Oh and, by the way, this chapter is going to finally shed some light as to Shinji's past and his unreal tolerance to pain.

Disclaimer -- These things really are annoying… I can't think of anything stupid to write!

A.N.: "This is not a test."

'This is a test.'

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"What!" Ritsuko shouted at Misato. "What do you mean he's been missing since yesterday!" It was the day after the battle with the Angel and Shinji had not been seen since.

"I thought he was acting weird… but I never dreamed he'd run away." She answered.

"And you call yourself his overseer?" Ritsuko scolded her.

"Don't talk like that." Misato complained.

"We don't have much choice. We have to report this." Ritsuko said after a few seconds of thought.

"Wait! He still might…" Misato was able to say before being interrupted by Ritsuko again.

"If something happens, it'll be too late. Or are you saying that you'll go look for him yourself?"

"How?" Misato said sadly. "I have no idea… where he would go."

--------------

"I'm home PenPen" Misato said as she arrived. She wandered over to where Shinji's room was and looked in. 'Hmm… I wonder if he's not coming home again tonight?' she thought to herself. 'Where could you have gone?'

She had a quiet dinner alone, and was taking a bath when she thought to herself, 'Maybe if I can figure out a bit of his past, I can understand why he left.' She got out, changed, and was turning on her computer when a loud knock sounded on her door. 'Who could that be?' she thought to herself as she went to open the door. To her surprise, it was two NERV agents who awaited her outside of her home.

"What do you want?" Misato asked the man directly in front of her.

"We are here under orders ma'am." The agent answered her in the no-nonsense way she knew them to be trained in. "We were told to inspect the Third-Child's quarters to try and find any possible clues which might lead us to his current location. Misato stepped aside as the agents got to work.

She led them to his room and watched what they did from the doorway. 'I can't believe that he started living with me nearly two weeks ago… His room looks almost the same as when he moved in. I can't believe he hasn't bought anything personal to at least try and change the room a little. She watched as one of the agents opened the door to the closet. Inside, another pair of the same black pants with white shirts that he always wore was hanging. She could also see several other pairs of shirts and pants lying intermingled with various bandages on the closet floor. As the agent tossed out the bandages, she notice that some where very bloody, some where cut up, and others looked extremely worn out. She had never noticed whether he was bandaged up at all.

While the agent in the closet was busy, the other looked under the bed. "What the…" he said as he reached under it. He pulled his arm out a few seconds later and clutched in his palm was a very small pill. It looked like a regular aspirin, and would probably been considered as such, if not for the agents examination of it. It looked white while looking at it in normal lighting, but when held up to the light, it had a slight reddish tinge to it. It was deposited into a small plastic bag and the investigation continued. The pill however, was the only thing of any interest that was found. The agents finished after about an hour and thanked Misato, who currently resided on the couch, on their way out.

--------------

"You are to locate the Third-Child." A group of agents were informed several hours before two of them invaded Shinji's room. "He is to be retrieved alive if possible. He is also known to be violent, aggressive, and considered extremely dangerous. You are to take all necessary precautions if you intend to confront them. You two!" the one giving out orders pointed to two agents. "You are to search for any possible clues in the Pilot's home. That is all. Dismissed."

--------------

'Glad that's over.' Misato thought to herself. 'Now where was I…?' She connected to the internet with her computer and began searching for relevant data about Shinji. 'Maybe I'll try finding about what the people that took care of him were like…' She looked first, for any living family members of the commander. She found nothing. She searched for people with 'Ikari' as a last name in the area where she was told Shinji came from. Nothing again. She kept at it for several hours again. Using resources that were available to her as the Operations Commander of NERV, she found absolutely nothing. According to all that she had found, the person who was supposed to have been taking care of Shinji for the past decade did not exist. 'What the hell does this mean!' she thought to herself. 'Is this a cover-up or something?' She thought to herself. She was about to give up when a news article in the site she had been visited caught her eye. "It was an old newspaper story about a murder. What intrigued her was that the victim's name was the same as that of Shinji's uncle.

It was about a man who was found dead in his home. The picture showcased was of the same individual listed as Shinji's caretaker. 'How can this be!' Misato pondered. 'How can he be dead when he was supposed to have been taking care of him up until a little while ago?' She scrolled upward to read the date of the issue and made a startling discovery. This report was over ten years old!

"What could this mean!" she thought aloud. 'Is it some kind of conspiracy or is his information just out of date. No one cared about him before he got here so an error like this is possible, but still… Something about this bothers me…

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"Ritsuko!" Misato shouted as she walked into the doctor's office. "I found something strange."

"Oh…?" She responded calmly, being used to Misato's entrances, she was no longer startled at her sudden appearance. "What a coincidence, I did as well."

"You did? What is it?" She demanded of her.

"No way. You came barreling in to my office so you talk first." Ritsuko said smugly.

"Oh fine…" She muttered before recounting what she had discovered.

"What!" Ritsuko said, taken aback. "What do you mean his guardian's been dead for the past ten years!"

"It's just that. I have no idea what's going on, but something about this seems very strange… So, what did you discover?"

"Ah yes, I almost forgot. Do you remember what the agents sent to your apartment yesterday found?"

"A small pill, right?"

"Yes. I analyzed it and discovered what it was."

"What it was?"

"Yes, it is medicine."

"What? Is he sick or something?"

"I'm not sure… It's not like anything that I've ever seen before."

"What's so strange about it? Medicine is medicine right?"

"Well, this pill that was found is extremely unique. It's composed of seven distinct parts. It seems they were compressed and placed in a single capsule." She said while pulling up a diagram on her terminal. The strange thing was one of the cores."

"What about it?"

"It seems to be a powerful painkiller."

"What? What would he need painkillers for?"

"I don't know…"

"Didn't you run tests on all of the pilots?"

"No. I tried to get him to comply but he threatened to cease piloting if he was not left alone. That's why I didn't even know about his arm until Rei told us."

"Rei…" Misato said. "That's another weird thing about him… Why does he seem to want to protect her so much?"

"I don't know… He does seem overly protective of her. I mean, he threatens to kill anyone who so much as thinks of hurting her… And, I'm not sure why, but I think that he really would…"

"He threatened you, right?"

"Yes, but I only said that to get him to fight… Still, I was almost frightened by his voice when he said it…"

"So what do we do now?" Misato asked.

"Nothing." She said. "All we can do is wait..."

--------------

It was the middle of the evening and a figure glided through the tall grasses on the outskirts of Tokyo-3. This lone figure was soon intercepted by several others. The lone figure faced the group as one among the pack separated from them and walked forward.

"Shinji Ikari?" The lead figure said.

"And you are…?" he responded.

"Nerv Public Security and Intelligence Bureau. In accordance with clause eight of the Public Security Act, we are to escort you back to headquarters."

"Escort?" he asked while eyeing their weapons. "Don't you mean arrest?"

The man chose not to reply to that and instead said, "Will you comply?"

His answer was given in the form of Shinji's fist slamming into his face. The spray of blood and the sudden movement startled the other agents long enough for Shinji to deal with them. He slid towards the second and drove a palm-thrust into his chest. With the momentum of his strike, he spun around a third agent and back-fist punched him in the base of the skull. The fourth and final agent recovered soon enough to realize that with his three companions gone, he was on his own. As Shinji turned to face his final opponent, the man panicked and pulled the trigger on his weapon. The thunder of the fired weapon echoed across the vacant field as the rounds tore their way into Shinji's unprotected body.

--------------

As Misato was preparing to go to sleep, she was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. Hoping it was news of Shinji, she rushed towards it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Oh good," Ritsuko's voice came through. "I'm glad you're still awake."

"What happened?" Misato asked.

"Section-2 agents encountered Shinji a little while ago."

"What! What happened!"

"The four agents sent to retrieve him at the clearing on the outskirts of town are currently in Intensive Care."

"What? Why are they in the hospital? What happened to Shinji, Ritsuko!"

"They're thinking that they fought."

"The agents?"

"Yes, with Shinji. The agent's seemed to have been knocked out pretty fast but one of them opened fire on him."

"They shot an unarmed child!"

"Yes, they say that the agent who shot him is the one worst off. The other three should recover soon, but that one doesn't seem to be as lucky…"

"Wait! How do they know he was actually shot?"

"The group who discovered his location was more that four agents, however, they thought that sending the whole group would make him even less likely to comply. They said that they ran towards the clearing when they heard gunfire, but he was already gone. They found a trail of blood leading away from them but after an hour of searching, it was decided that he was gone."

"Oh no… what's going to happen to him now, Ritsuko?"

"It isn't good. He's being brought up on charges of treason and it's being debated whether he is more trouble than he's worth. In truth, I hope they don't find him. They might kill him if they do…"

"Unless he's already gone…" Misato managed to say in a small voice before hanging up on her.

--------------

"Sir!" an agent reported in the commander's office the day after Misato's conversation with Ritsuko.

"What is it." He said.

"We have located and detained the Third Child."

"Where is he?"

"He is currently being held in Detention Block B."

"Very well. I shall be there soon.

--------------

"Ugh…" Shinji said as he awoke. 'Oh man… What the hell happened…' he thought as he looked at his surroundings. He was not in any place he ever remembered seeing before. If he had to compare it to something it would be a dungeon. His arms were chained up to the ceiling and his body was forced to sit on the ground with his legs beneath him that were chained to the ground.

"Awake, are you?" the guard spoke to him. "Good. You have a visitor."

Before he had a chance to reply to anything the door opened and his 'Visitor' walked in.

'That bastard? He's lucky I'm tied up, or I'd kill him now!' he thought to himself but chose not to speak.

"Where did you go?" The commander demanded more than asked.

"What? Were you worried about me?" he said before the commander's slap snapped his head to the side.

"Answer my question." He said. When Shinji said nothing he was struck again.

"Where is you uncle." He asked.

"What? He's back where he lives." Slap.

"You lie. I never bothered calling him but I have been informed that he no longer lives. Why is that?"

"Heh… I killed him. Just like I'm going to kill you."

"What? When did you do this."

"When? Oh, about a half year after you left me with that bastard. Let me tell you, he hits harder than you."

"You killed him when you were five!"

"Yes. And as much as I enjoyed that kill, I know that yours will be all the more sweet…" He was about to say more when he began coughing violently.

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded as he saw his son begin coughing up blood.

"Isn't it obvious?" He said in a mocking tone. "I'm dying."

"What?" he demanded.

"Yes. That is why I left. I did not wish others to see my corpse."

"What is wrong with you?"

"You wish to know? Fine. I'm as good as dead anyway… I lied about killing my uncle. He is dead, but not by my hand, unfortunately enough… I was taken by some strange group who used me to perform even stranger experiments and in the end, this is what I became. I was given medication that was meant to stabilize me but I ran out a while ago."

"What happens without it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he said before another coughing fit took him again. "I've got maybe one more day to go." He said with a lopsided grin. "After that, I'll go say hi to mom."

The room was quiet for several minutes before Shinji said, "If that's all then could you please leave because I'd rather not have your face be the last thing that I have to see."

The commander ignored his statement and decided instead to say, "Would you still be willing to pilot?"

"Hah ha ha… I wonder if you did listen to me… I'd be more willing to keep fighting if it wasn't for the fact that that I won't make it to the next attack…"

"Very well. I will inform doctor Akagi of your needs."

"Hey! Old man! What the hell are you talking about!"

Gendo's eyebrow twitched at being called an 'Old Man' and said "A pill of yours was found in your room. I will inform her that she is to analyze and reproduce them."

"What the hell?"

"It seems you are hard of hearing, child."

"Hey! Who the hell are you calling hard of hearing you old geezer! You're the one who probably needs a hearing aid grandpa!"

"You are to report to doctor Akagi after you are released. Afterwards, you may petition for a new apartment if you so desire." He said while facing away from him.

At the commander's order, the guards entered the room and untied him. They asked him to cooperate a bit longer seeing as Misato had expressed a desire to see him. He agreed and sat quietly until her arrival.

"Welcome back." She says as she walks in.

"Hey there." He says back.

"How does it feel to be back after having run away like that?"

"In truth? I feel like crap right now."

"No kidding." She said as she took in his appearance. "Let me ask you this, then. Are you still willing to pilot?"

"Of course I am." He said to a shocked Misato. "The fighting was never the problem. I had some things I needed to do and since I've been given an alternative, I guess I can keep going a little longer."

"Where are you going to stay?" she asked.

"Well, since I know that you were ordered to stay with me, I'll just look for an apartment or something and live on my own."

"I… I see…" She said quietly. He got up and walked towards the door. He was about to leave when Misato said, "You know… PenPen?"

"Huh…" he said, stopping.

"He… he was being used as an experiment where I used to work. They were through with him. I got him just as they were about to put him to sleep. Do you know why I took him in…? Such a useless, greedy bird?" She stopped for a few seconds then continued. "I felt sorry for him. There was that, but… well, I… I've always lived alone. I thought it might be nice to have someone who'd be there, waiting for me when I came home late at night, tired from work… I thought it might be nice to have a family. I… I'm not the kind of person who's got it together enough to live with a stranger just out of sympathy, or because it's my job. I didn't mean to do what I did. I am not your enemy Shinji…"

"Misato…?" he interrupted. "I'm… I am tired of being alone. I… I wish I could lead a normal life like everyone else but I can't anymore… please… can I stay with you…?"

"Shinji…" she said before smiling at him and saying, "let's go back… to our home, okay?"

Shinji looked at her, and gave her what had to be the first true smile she had ever seen on him before saying "Sure."

TO BE CONTINUED

How that? I really never meant to finish so fast, but I got a bunch of ideas in my head and I couldn't stop writing! For me, at least, when I write, I can see it playing out in my head, so, I want to see what happens. The more I write, the faster I can see what plays out. As such, work as fast as possible. Oh and, by the way, to the one that told me that I seemed to rush when I wrote, I give thanks. Without having to worry about finishing as fast as possible, I was able to write more calmly and I let the story flow instead of forcing it along. Oh, and if anyone thinks my story ideas are lame, then it's your own fault. If my ideas suck, it's because no one wants to give me any. I really do listen to what people say. I mean, damn, this whole chapter came from someone's suggestion to explain why I was making Shinji seem so tough. Seriously! Review and I will make this story the greatest I possibly can!

Later!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey there. You know, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised that I keep going with this. I mean, the excitement of actually being able to continue kind of wore off… That's not to say I'm even remotely less enthusiastic about going on. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are far more than enough reason to keep going. Also, I've decided what direction I'm going to take with this story. I'm just going to take it forward. Whatever happens on the way will happen. I feel that if I try and force this down a set path, then I'm going to ruin the whole thing. Oh, and if anyone wonders why it is I post so often, good, keep wondering.

Disclaimer -- -- remialcsiD

A.N. " ' ' "

----------

'What the hell was I thinking!' Shinji thought to himself. It was the day after he had returned and he currently lay on his bed in Misato's house, pondering his recent actions.

'Man… I guess that's what happens when I wait too long to take a damn pill… never thought it'd make me go all sentimental like that… Then again, this is a whole lot better than what I'm used to. I think someone told me once that humans crowd together because they fear being alone… does that mean I'm still human… I have no problem being alone but why could it be that I feel at ease here…? I know it isn't because of the security, I mean hell, I took out four of those guys and they only shot me twice… What the hell, thinking like this is making me dizzy; and damn hungry too.'

Shinji rose from his bed and walked over to the refrigerator. He looked inside and pulled out some leftovers.

'Hmm…' he though to himself as he microwaved his food. 'All takeout and instant junk… does this woman not know how to cook! Who the hell am I kidding… I can't cook either… I think that's the kind of thing that a family is supposed to teach you… does that mean she never had one either…?' he stopped thinking for a bit as his food finished warming up.

He placed it on the table and kept going. 'Family huh? I really doubt that my father would count… I only call him my father because… wait a minute… why do I call him that? Well, at any rate, why did it have to be his men that found me…? I suppose I should be thankful that he did extend my life for a bit… If I was anyone else, that might be enough reason to stop hating him, or at least keep them from plotting to kill him, I probably would too if it wasn't for the fact that all of this was because of him… I can't stand talking to him alone. In public I can make him look like an idiot, but in his damn dungeon, the chains where the only thing keeping me from ripping his god dammed head off. At least he's not the type of fool that talks for an hour while saying nothing at all… I'm glad he brought up the subject of me piloting up fast because seriously, I was at about my limit… Maybe I agreed a little to fast? It doesn't matter. Point is, I still get to pilot a giant bio-mechanical robot around! Damn… why am I thinking like this… If they could see the way I'm changing now, they'd kick my ass for going soft like that.'

----------

"Any idea what they did to you Shinji?" Ritsuko asked him. Shinji had gone in for a medical examination as per Ritsuko's request and, seeing as she was keeping him alive, the least he could do is comply.

"Not a clue." He said.

"You never asked!" she replied, shocked at his lack of knowledge.

"Well the thing is, I'm not sure about you, but the bastards who did this to me," he said gesturing towards his body, "didn't feel it necessary to tell their guinea pigs what they were doing. And, the fact that I wasn't even expected to survive, didn't persuade them much."

"I… I see…" She said. She stopped talking for a bit and concentrated instead on what she was working on in her computer.

After a few minutes of constant silence, she told him that she needs to run a few test on him before the medicine could be completed.

"What? Why can't you just make a complete replica of what you already had?" he asked, not really liking the thought of more medical experiments on him.

"Well I could," Ritsuko said, "That is, if you don't mind the side effects that come with that particular mix of medicines."

"Side effects? What makes you think there were side effects?" he asked, hoping he could convince her to leave him alone.

"Are you telling me there weren't?" she taunted him.

"Uh, well…"

"As I thought. Don't worry. I just need a blood sample from you and that's it." She said.

"Oh, okay. That's fine then." He was clearly relieved, that is, until Ritsuko came back with the needle.

'Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.' His mind chanted. 'That needle is frickin' huge!'

"Now just roll up your sleeve…" Ritsuko said, taking a sick sadistic pleasure in waving that thing around.

"Ugh…" he said as she pulled up his shirt.

"Oh my…" Ritsuko said.

"What?" he said opening one eye to look at her.

"Your arm… what happened…?" she was absolutely shocked at the condition of his arm. "Take off you shirt!" she then demanded.

"What? Why!" he was extremely reluctant to comply. His reason to do so became obvious when he was forced to do so anyway.

"Oh my god…" she said. "What kind of sick bastard would do this to a child…?"

"Yeah… This is all thanks to the commander." he told her. "There was a reason I told you I wasn't expected to survive."

"Then… how are you…?"

"I don't know… When I look in the mirror, that is what I ask myself."

"The painkillers… this is what they're for isn't it…?"

"Just make a copy of what I used to take. The side effects are not as bad as… this. And, please, don't tell anyone about it." She nodded. He pulled his shirt back on and was about to leave when Ritsuko called out to him.

"'Oh! I almost forgot! Go find Misato and meet me where the Angel core you destroyed is being kept. I want to show you guys something."

"Go find her? What the hell! I'm not a messenger!" His words were harsh but his tone was light.

She laughed a bit and said "Stop complaining and go find her!" She watched him walk away, muttering under his breath, but she knew he was joking. 'Now I understand why he acts like this… it must make it easier for him to handle it…'

----------

"Misato!" Shinji called as he walked into her office.

"Huh? What is it Shinji?" she said.

"Ritsuko said she wanted to see us with the angel fragment."

"What does she want?"

"How would I know? I'm just Shinji Ikari, world saving messenger!"

"Ha ha ha… Fine fine… let's just go." They walked forward for a while in silence.

"Hey, now that I think about it, that's the first time I've seen you smile."

"What are you talking about? I smile all the time."

"No you don't, sure you make jokes and laugh all the time, but you never smile. Not for real anyway."

"You really are observant aren't you?"

"You should smile more often." She said, a teasing tone creeping into her voice. "You're pretty cute. Cuter than you'd think, anyway."

"Right." He said. Clearly ignoring her. She was about to complain but stopped when she noticed the person who stood before them.

"Hey there, Ayanami!" Shinji called out.

"So… you didn't quit." She said more than asked.

"Yeah… I suppose I didn't…"

"I could have piloted Unit-01 as well as you did." She said before walking past them.

Misato was about to tell Shinji that she was always that way when his expression shocked her into silence. He smiled again.

"That's not saying much!" he called out towards her.

Not expecting a response of any kind, much less what seemed to her to be an insult, she turned around and told him, "What do you mean by that, Ikari." Her tone level and colder than usual.

He grinned at her and said "in case you weren't watching, every time I go out there, I nearly get killed by the Angels. It's a miracle I beat them in the first place! If you are as 'good' as me, then we really are in trouble!" he waited a few seconds before continuing. "You really shouldn't compare yourself to anyone. You are the only you and you are as good as you are, no better and no worse." He smirked again and walked away, saying "Come, Misato, we're going to be late."

They walked off, leaving a confounded Rei in their wake.

'I am very confused.' She thought to herself as she walked off in the direction she was originally heading. 'What does he want from me? He has done a lot of things to protect me, but he has never asked for anything in return. Even the commander who treats me the best still demands that I repay him by obeying him blindly. But Ikari has told me that I am me. What does that mean? I know I am myself but he seemed to have a deeper meaning behind that statement. This is too strange. I will have to ask him at a later date.'

In a different corridor, Misato spoke to Shinji. "What was that, eh, Shinji? Trying to hit on Rei?"

Shinji sighed and said "Why must you be so incredibly perverse…? Can't you just believe that what I want doesn't center on that?"

"Right…" she said teasingly. "Of course not…"

"Ugh…"

----------

"Is this all that's left?" Shinji asked while facing the angel core. The ones he asked, however, were too preoccupied with their own conversation to listen to him.

"Okay. Fine. Ignore me. I don't care." He said loudly. "It's not like I'm some incredibly heroic warrior risking his life to protect you all and the human race anyway. Don't worry. I don't need an answer."

Hearing him, both women began laughing. "Sorry, sorry Shinji!" Ritsuko said when she had caught her breath. "I didn't mean to ignore you. But, yes, that's all that's left. Anyway, I wanted to show both of you something." She began talking about the similarities of the Angels or something, but the giant shiny core was too big a distraction for him so he walked over to it again and ignored Ritsuko's explanation.

He stared for a good while and turned to leave. When he did turn, he saw the commander, the second commander, and two random techs walk towards the core and him.

With a great idea in mind he walks forward slightly and calls out to the group. "Good morning, commander Fuyutsuki!" he says to the second commander "Hey there you two!" he says to the techs. The three he addressed greet him in kind and Shinji walked off.

Once Shinji had passed them, he turned around slightly to see the effect of what he had done. The two techs seemed very surprised at Shinji's actions; even the second commander was a bit shocked. His father, however, ignored the whole thing and was acting as though it had never happened. The other three, liking their jobs, followed suit.

Shinji was about to walk away when he saw something unexpected. His father's hands were heavily burnt.

Misato snuck up behind him and was about to shout and surprise him when he said "What is it Misato?"

"Not fair!" she complained. "You always know when I'm around but you keep popping up on me like that."

"Ha ha, it's due to years of experience!" he said, half joking.

"That's cheating!"

Shinji laughed a little more at this and then asked "What's up with the commander's hands, they're all fried."

"Oh that?" Ritsuko said. She told him about Rei's failed activation test and how the commander injured himself to get her out.

"See Shinji." Misato said. "The commander isn't as bad as you think."

"I'm not so sure…" Shinji said.

Inwardly, Ritsuko agreed, especially after what she had seen.

"Replacing pilots must be a pain." Shinji told Misato. "I mean, after all the crap I've pulled, you'd think I'd get fired or something."

Seeing no possible argument to Shinji's analysis of the commander's actions, she stayed quiet.

"In the end," Shinji kept going "I really don't care either way. Nothing he could do would possibly change my thoughts on him."

----------

'Oh man is this boring…' Shinji thought to himself outside of school. He was dressed in his gym clothes and as such, was currently in his P.E. class. He stared upward and was approached by two of his classmates, Toji and Kensuke.

"Shinji!" Toji called out. "I want you to hit me!" he said before striking a strange pose.

'The hell…?' Shinji thought to himself. "Fine." He said and stood up.

He was about to punch him when he said, "Why?"

"Don' worry 'bout dat! Jus do it!" he said.

Shinji shrugged and hit him. Kensuke and a few girls saw this and were surprised that he actually did it.

"So, what the hell was up with that?" Shinji asked Kensuke.

"Well the thing is," he began. "His little sister found out about what he did. She got mad and yelled at him and told him that you were the one who was protecting all of us. She even said that your job was far too important for you to be focused on any one individual."

At his words Shinji started laughing.

"Wha' the hell's so funny!" Toji said as he got up.

"Now I know why you're an idiot." Shinji said. "Your sister must have inherited all of the intelligence you were supposed to have!" Shinji said then started to laugh again.

----------

"Shinjiiiiii…" Misato drawled on.

"What is it?" he said. He was currently eating and didn't appreciate being interrupted from his meal. "Why are you _still_ walking around like that, Misato?" he said once he noticed what she was wearing.

"Hey, it's hot, okay?" she said before trying to tease him again by telling him "What's wrong with the way I dress?"

"Oh nothing at all," he said. "It's just that you're warping that poor penguin's mind with your borderline indecent behavior." He said while pointing at PenPen.

"That reminds me, I want to ask you something," he told her in a very serious sounding voice.

"What is?" she said, worried a bit at his tone.

"Well, the thing is… why does PenPen live in a fridge if he's a warm water penguin?"

"Huh!" she said, completely confused by his absolutely random question.

"Well?" he said.

"Umm…" She began. 'Now what do I do?' her mind screamed at her. 'How can I answer that! I don't even know! What do I… The Card! Oh thank you Ritsuko! You saved me!'

"Oh yeah! Here, this is for you." She said and handed him a card.

"What's this?" he said as he got it.

"It's your permanent security card." She told him. "Oh and take this one too."

He took it and said "What do I do with this one?"

"It's Rei's new card. Ritsuko says she forgot to give it to her. Sorry, but could you drop it off at her place tomorrow before you go to HQ?"

"I see…" he said while looking at the card.

"Oh?" Misato says when she notices Shinji staring at the card, a far off look in his eyes. "See something you like? Hmm?"

"What?" he said looking up. "Oh, I was checking the address and wondering how to get there."

"Aw… You're no fun…" she muttered.

"If you say so… Anyway, well?"

"Well what?"

"Did you think I'd forget so easily? What about PenPen?"

'Oh no! My plan failed!' she cried until she noticed PenPen walking back into the room. "Hey PenPen!" Misato called out to the penguin. "Why do you live in a refrigerator?"

"Wark!" PenPen said.

"Wait, what was that!" Shinji said.

"Wark!" PenPen repeated.

"I am humbled by your great wisdom master PenPen!" Shinji told him.

"What?" Misato said, confused and a little worried about Shinji's sanity. "Did he say something?"

"Should I tell this non-believer?" Shinji asked PenPen.

"Wark!" PenPen said and shook his head in an obvious no. Needless to say, this shocked both of his human compatriots. Misato's eyes greatly widened and her mouth fell open, Shinji's reaction was not so apparent but he did raise an eyebrow rather high…

"As you command." Shinji said.

"Hey! That's not fair! I want to know what he said."

"Sorry Misato, PenPen has spoken."

Misato pouted and Shinji could be heard laughing his way down the hall and enter his bedroom.

----------

'Whoa… this place is huge…' Shinji said to himself. He was standing in front of Rei's apartment early in the morning.

'Maybe I should have lived in a place like this… I'd get more sleep at least… Then again, I do get free food… Wait… I get free room, free food, why? Holy crap! I'm completely broke! Aren't I getting paid? I'm not am I! The hell… I risk my life to save humanity and I don't even get a paycheck! What kind of crap is that! That's it, when I get to NERV I'm gonna complain! Wait a minute… what if I am getting paid but Misato gets it… hmm, maybe I'll pawn off her car to get even… hold it, I'm here… Room 402… This is it.'

Shinji reached over and rang the doorbell, 'what the…?' he said to himself, 'it's broken…' "Hello! Any one in there?" Shinji called out as he knocked on the door. After a minute of continuous knocking he though 'maybe she's not here? Misato told me she wasn't due at NERV for a while so maybe she went out or something… huh? Door's open…' he had checked the door knob and noticed that not only was it unlocked, it didn't even have a lock.

"Hello? Ayanami? Are you here somewhere?" He walked in a bit to find out if she was there or not. The state of the room surprised him a bit, it wasn't so much dirty, I mean, after seeing Misato's mess the world suddenly looked a hell of a lot cleaner. The apartment wasn't really that dirty, it just seemed neglected. There was no overflowing amount of trash all over the floor, but something about the room gave the impression of it being a mess. 'This looks far too familiar… This treating your home as just the place to sleep… Damn it! Stop thinking like that!' Shinji said to himself before shaking his head to clear his mind.

He looked up towards Rei's dresser and saw something glint in the sunlight streaming through the open windows, 'What could that be?' he said to himself as he walked over to it and looked at it 'Ayanami wears glasses? No, these look familiar; hmm… they seem pretty cheap too…' He looked a little closer and saw the words G. Ikari written on them. 'Oh so they're his, huh…' He was alerted of another's presence by approaching footsteps. He turned around to see what it could be. All of the training he had endured did not, in the slightest, prepare him for what he now faced. Ayanami stood at the doorway to her bathroom, naked save for a towel around her shoulders. Shinji's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in surprise, a very slight blush also spread across his face. Ayanami, on her part, was surprised as well. She did not expect anyone to enter her apartment for any reason at this moment. That someone did, let alone that he did, was an absolute surprise for her. Shinji was shocked the moment he was confronted with that sight, but his reflexes kicked in after about two or three seconds. He closed his eyes and whirled around to face in the opposite direction.

"Sorry!" Shinji said. "I thought you weren't here so I checked just to be sure. I'm sorry for just walking in like that!"

Getting over her surprise, she responded "There is no need to apologize. You have caused not caused any problems."

"What? Of course I need to apologize. I walked in without asking for permission and saw you…" his voice trailed off and the same blush came back to cover his face.

There was an awkward silence after Shinji spoke in which he was far too embarrassed to say anything.

"Why are you here?" she said after a while longer.

'Wait why am I here?' Shinji asked himself. 'Oh yeah! The card! Thank you Misato! You saved me! Wait a minute! She sent me here in the first place! Damn you Misato!'

"Well?" Rei asked again interrupting his mental monologue.

"Oh, um… I'm here to give you your security card. Misato told me that Ritsuko forgot to give it to you."

"They sent you?" she asked.

"Yeah well, I guess in an organization as big and important as NERV, every single employee is involved in such important work that a lowly pilot such as myself whose only job is to control a giant bio-mechanical robot against even gianter monsters in a battle to the death in order to protect humanity on a constant basis is seen as the perfect one to send messages and deliver things I guess." He said sarcastically.

He thought he heard what could have been a small laugh from behind him and was about to turn around to see if that was what it was when he remembered 'Gah! Turn away you idiot! She's probably still naked!' His head snapped forward again fast enough to actually get him a bit dizzy.

"Umm… anyways… here's your card." He finished holding the card to the side.

Rei, fully dressed now, walked past him and took it from his outstretched hand.

"We have to go to NERV now, right?" Shinji asked as they headed out.

"Yes." Was her reply.

"You know," Shinji began as they walked out of her apartment. "Maybe you should get a lock or something for your door."

"It is unnecessary." She said. "There are Section two agents constantly around in case anything ever happened."

"I suppose so…" Shinji said. "They don't seem to be too good at their job, I mean, I got in with no problem."

"Hmm…" she said and seemed to be considering what he said. "You may be right. However, I lack the funds necessary to install one."

'What the…? She's poor too?' Shinji thought to himself.

"Hey, I've been wondering, do we actually get paid for piloting?"

"I do not think so." She told him. Inwardly she said 'Ikari makes a good point. This is considered work for us so we should be receiving payment for it.'

"So it wasn't just me." He said, thinking out loud. "That's just not right! We've got the most important job there, so, we should be making a whole lot of money? Hey I've got an idea, Ayanami."

"What is it, Ikari?"

"How about when we reach NERV, we find the ones who decided that we weren't going to get paid, and threaten to step on them if they don't start giving us money?"

"That seems to be a very foolish suggestion." She said but she though 'I wonder if that would work?'

"Any ideas then?" he asked.

"Not at this moment." She said before realizing that he had stopped. She turned around to see what had halted him when a car drove into a puddle and splashed them. Rei instinctively closed her eyes and waited for the water to hit her. When it didn't, she looked back and saw that he had stopped directly in the path of the water.

'He protected me again? There was absolutely no reason for that.' She was about to ask him why it was that he did that when she noticed what he was doing.

"Hey you bastard get back here! What the hell! That was on purpose! If I had my giant robot I'd squish you for that!" He yelled after the car. The driver, completely oblivious, ignored him.

'Was he protecting me this time?' she thought, not quite sure after his outburst. She was going to ask him when she noticed that the water had hit her, it was only the skirt of her dress, but she was wet. She realized that, this time at least, it had been an accident seeing as he had stopped to look into the display of a game store they had walked past.

"Being around you is highly entertaining." She told him and walked off.

'Did she say what I think she said?' Shinji's bewildered mind tried to understand the series of events that had just taken place. A few seconds of stunned silence later he thought to himself, 'I guess acting like this was worthwhile for a reaction like that…"

"Hey Ayanami! Wait up!" he called out to her as he ran to catch up.

"Hey, you have a reactivation test with Unit-00 today, don't you?" he asked as he remembered the reason they were going to NERV.

"Yes." She said.

"Do you feel up to it? Didn't it fail last time?"

"I am not afraid to die." She told him. Those words were barely out of her mouth when she heard Shinji chuckle.

"Having thoughts like that is not necessarily a good thing. Being willing to risk their lives makes a person courageous, but willing to throw their lives away makes them foolish." He told her.

'What he says does not apply to me. I am replaceable.'

"The reason a person who throws their lives away is foolish is not because of their actions. It is because of their mindset. Those are the types of people who think that they have no value, that they are easily replaceable."

"Some people really are replaceable." She said to him. 'Like me.'

"Do you really think so?" He asked her. She nodded.

"You're wrong. There is no such thing as a replaceable person. No matter who takes their place, how much they look or act like them, they will not replace the one that is gone. They are as much themselves as any one else is and as such, they are not anyone else. No matter what anyone else thinks, themselves included, and as such, they give up on life because they see it as the easiest path." He finished and kept following her.

They continued on their walk towards headquarters. Shinji trailed by a few steps but they were close enough to be able to talk. What Shinji didn't realize was the shadow of a smile that adorned Rei's face the entire time.

They arrived a while later and were about to go their different ways when Shinji told her one final thing as she walked off. "Good luck on the test! And if you give up, I'll throw Misato at you or something!"

She stopped at his seeming threat and looked back in surprise. He was already gone though. She shrugged and kept walking forward. She seemed the same as always but those that knew her could have seen a difference. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed and a single thought ran through her mind. 'I wonder if he really would throw the captain at me…'

----------

"We will now commence the activation test for Unit-00. Rei. Are you ready?" The commander said.

"Yes, sir."

As the bridge crew began reporting on the status of the activation Shinji made sure the comm. he was standing next to was on and he turned to talk to Misato.

"Hey Misato?" Shinji asked.

"What is it Shinji?" She said; glad to have something to take her mind off of the test seeing as she had nothing to do but watch.

"Why aren't I getting paid?"

"What? What do you mean paid?"

"Well this is work, isn't it? So shouldn't Ayanami and I get a paycheck or something?"

"Well…" she said before Shinji cut her off.

"Why else would you think that we should Pilot if not for a huge amount of cash?"

"You pilot because no one else can." The commander said. He heard the whole pointless conversation and thought that this was a way in which he could show his superiority to the third child.

"That's even better then!" Shinji said, completely opposite of how the commander thought he would have reacted. "This means we're specialists so we should get even more money if you want to have us keep going, right?"

The commander, seeing no possible way to end this conversation with making himself look like a fool, decided to say, "Katsuragi, arrange it."

By this time, the Eva had been successfully activated and Shinji walked over to the terminal. "I told you this would work, Ayanami!"

"Yes." She answered. "I suppose I owe you lunch now."

Hearing this statement the entire bridge crew broke out laughing, all save for the commander who was furious that his son was turning his puppet against him.

Unfortunately their laughter was cut short when Fuyutsuki said, "An unidentified flying object is heading this way. It's probably the fifth angel."

"Abort the test! All personnel, go to level one yellow alert!" the commander ordered.

"Can we use Unit-00?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"It's not battle-ready yet." The commander told him before asking Ritsuko "What about Unit-01?"

"We can have it up in 380 seconds." She informed the commander.

"Good, scramble it." He said.

"Aw damn!" Shinji said loudly. "I guess I have to go to work now…"

"Stop complaining Shinji!" Misato said. "Go do your job!"

"Fine… It's better than being a messenger, I guess…"

"He's still upset about that?" Ritsuko asked Misato when Shinji left the room.

"Yeah, every time I ask him to got get something for me, he complains about most of the stories he'll have to tell his grandchildren when this is long past will be about how he spent his time delivering things."

"Ha ha ha, yes, that sounds like something he'd say."

"The target is now above Lake Ashino."

"Eva Unit-01 is ready for take off."

"Money, money, money, money…" Shinji muttered to himself as he sat in Unit-01.

"What was that Shinji?" Misato asked.

"Oh nothing. Just reminding myself why I pilot. Hey, Ayanami, we'll go get lunch when I get back!"

"Assuming you return." She said. Misato was shocked that Rei would tell him something like that until Shinji's reply came.

"You're not getting out of it that easily!"

"Oh well, one can hope."

'What the hell?' Misato thought to herself. 'Since when are these two friends!'

"Don't give up." She told him.

"Hey, don't worry about that. And besides, I doubt you could pick Misato up!" He managed to say before he was launched.

Misato, highly confused, was about to ask Rei what the heck had just happened when someone said "I'm getting a high energy reading _within_ the target!"

"What!" Misato shouted back.

"It's accelerating on its periphery! Starting to converge!"

Understanding dawning on her, Misato said "Can't be… A particle beam!"

"No!" she shouted. "Shinji get out of the way!"

"Huh?" was his response until he saw what she meant. The angel looked like a big blue diamond but what caught his attention was the oncoming beam as it blasted easily through the building in its path.

"Oh crap…" he said before he was engulfed in pink death.

To be continued…!

Damn I'm tired… I've been writing for like eight hours just to finish it up… Well, there you go! How's that. If it sucks, then it's a vacuum in disguise. Tell me what you thought of it. It doesn't have to be some crazy in-depth analysis or anything, though that would be appreciated, just telling me you liked it and want me to keep going really is enough. I'm going to stop begging for ideas, but if you have any, tell me and I'll see if it inspires me. Oh, and I wonder just how many stories decide to end right at that exact moment? Oh yeah, also about the whole Shinji and Rei being friendly now, I've got a reason, but I'd ruin the story if I said it now. I also wanted to claim that despite what it looks like, it's still NOT a SinjiXRei fic, seriously. Maybe I should stop now? Oh, one more thing. I update fast because I write fast, or type, whatever. This is my protest against writers who think up great stories and update really, really slowly. If you agree with me, do the same.

Later.


	5. Chapter 5

Hmm… What to say… Does it really matter? Oh well, anyway, here's part five. It seems that not very many people, if any, caught the hint as to why Rei changed so much in such little time. I know it seems like she was OOC but since nothing like what happened ever did, it's impossible to guess how she could have reacted. So there, ha! I'm also aware as to Shinji's sudden change in attitude. It isn't due to a withdrawal symptom, incase that's what you thought. I thought about it beforehand and as such, I'll give a reason when it's appropriate. I think that's enough. GO! Start Reading!

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"Shinji, get out of the way!" Misato shouted at him.

"Huh?" he managed to say before all thoughts were swept from his mind. What now occupied their place was the enemy he faced. It was a large diamond shaped entity which quietly floated above the city of Tokyo-3. However, what captivated him was the oncoming wave of energy that blasted through a surrounding building and slammed into him with an unexpected force. It was an uncontrollable surge of destructive power which destroyed all who stood in its path. Unfortunately for Shinji, he was one who barred the way and, as such, he would receive no mercy.

"Hng…!" Shinji grunted as he was hit. The energy pulsing around him destroyed the cameras within the unit, plunging the command center into darkness yet again. The force easily shattered through the laughably weak A.T. field which he struggled to throw up in an attempt at self-preservation. It struck the giant and, being the undeniable force that it was, sought to follow its urge to inexorably move forward, carving its way through the hulking behemoth before it.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted, terrified at this sudden turn in events. "Hurry! Get him back!"

As the seconds dragged on, the armor plating of the Eva began to liquefy, yet it showed no signs of movement.

"What the hell are you waiting for!" She shouted as her fear became rage at this inactivity.

"Damn it! The elevator jammed!"

"What!" her scream filled with fear again.

"Almost… got it!" The words were hardly out of his mouth as the Eva sank once more below ground. The once purple chest now glowed a dull crimson as the intense heat had melted it down.

The command crew stared for a moment in awe-inspired terror at the destruction their enemy had caused before lapsing into serene inactivity again.

"The target had gone inactive!" was said as the Angel's movement ceased.

"How's Shinji!" Misato demanded.

"EEG abnormal! Pulse faint!" was said, giving reality to their doubts as to the pilot's health.

"Unit-01 to cage #7 for retrieval!"

"I'm going to the cage!" Misato shouted out, "Ritsuko! Get the medic team ready -- Stat!"

"Got it!" Ritsuko replied.

Behind her stood Rei, with an expression on her face which could be interpreted as disinterest.

"Brainwaves erratic! Pulse faint! Correction, pulse has stopped!"

"Set life supports to maximum! Commence CPR!" Ritsuko shouted, terror at loosing their one chance of survival slowly filling her.

"Yes sir!" was shouted back as the signal was sent.

"Again!" she shouted when it had no effect.

"Negative! Pilot life-signs deteriorating."

"No!" she shouted as the next report was voiced.

"All life-signs have… flatlined…"

At these words, the fear hidden within the uncaring façade which Rei had carefully crafted, reached a crescendo as she ran out to asses Shinji's condition herself.

"Hurry! Force eject the plug!" Ritsuko shouted in the vain hope of a possible retrieval. "Emergency LCL flush!" She ordered.

As the liquid poured out, those who were around noticed that that the LCL had reached boiling temperature. It smoked and hissed wherever it made contact, giving an unshakable testament to the condition of the pilot.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted while sprinting towards him. 'No! Don't die! You can't die!'

An absolute panic had her heart frozen in its icy grip; heralding the inevitable desolation which would soon befall her should her nightmare become truth.

As the hatch was opened, a burst of steam obscured her vision. When she glimpsed into the plug's interior, the sight of what it contained froze her in absolute shock.

------

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"Damn it's hot in here." Shinji said as he lightly jumped out of the still steaming plug.

"Sh…Shinji?" Misato muttered, not quite believing that he had come out unharmed.

"Huh? Oh, hey Misato. What's… Gah!" he shouted as he was enveloped in a rib-shattering hug. "What the hell! Let go of me!" he shouted, nearing suffocation as she crushed him.

"I though you were dead!" she sobbed out.

"So now you wanna try finishing the job! Off with you woman!" he shouted as he broke free.

"Shinji, what happened!" Ritsuko called out through the intercom. "All my instruments said your life-signs ceased!"

"My what?" he asked, a bit confused until he remembered the events which recently unfolded. "Oh that, this stupid vest thing on the plug suit broke in there. So I guess that's what did it."

"Are you alright, though?" she then asked him.

"I'm fine." He answered. "It didn't even hurt!"

Those who heard him were reassured of his rumored near-invulnerability.

"Well, that's good to hear." She said, playing along. "I want to make sure of that so go to my lab, alright?"

"What?" he said. "No, I don't think so. I'm gonna go get changed then go for lunch. If you need something after that, call me."

"Shinji!" Ritsuko shouted in disapproval.

"Oh come on, Doctor Akagi!" one the bridge techs, Makoto, said. "We all know he's way too tough to be injured like that, I mean, hell, he's walking around as if nothing's happened!"

Ritsuko was about to argue if not for the fact that the voiced agreement of the rest of the crew made it so that her reaction would either reduce or enhance the image so carefully crafted by Shinji. Choosing the obvious alternative, she decided to comply. "Fine, Shinji… if you're sure you'll be fine, then I guess I should take your word for it."

Shinji grinned up at the camera Ritsuko was watching from and walked out. As the bridge crew rejoiced amongst themselves about another near-miraculous action of Shinji's to add to the growing list, Ritsuko's face darkened as she noticed what only a trained professional could; she could see that he was completely unable to use his left arm, if its complete lack of movement was anything to go by. She also noticed his shallow breathing which meant, since it had not improved in the slightest during the entire conversation, that he had at least bruised if not outright broken his ribs.

Rei's look mirrored Ritsuko's own, but not because she noticed what the doctor did. She saw it in his face. While others saw only the supposed elation of his at having survived yet again, she glanced into his eyes as he passed by her, forgoing the obvious comment about his impending lunch as she saw the barely suppressed agony hidden within them.

----------

"Hey, Ayanami?" Shinji called out from where he was currently changing.

"Yes, Ikari?" she answered.

"Forget about lunch for now. I'm way too sleepy to be hungry. Can you tell Ritsuko and Misato where I am in case they need me?"

"Very well. I wish to ask something of you, however."

"Huh? What's up?"

"How serious were the injuries you received."

"Injuries? I told you I was fine." He replied a bit drowsily.

"I do not believe you. Doctor Akagi noticed as well but due to the behavior of the crew, she was unable to examine you."

"Look Ayanami… I'm well enough to keep on fighting, if that's what you're wondering. So just let me sleep for a while, okay?"

"All right." She said after a few seconds and walked off.

'Damn!' Shinji thought to himself as she left. 'Have I really become so weak as to have people worrying about me? No, she was probably wondering if she would have to go fight alone… Man, these people are getting far too attached to me. I should have kept acting the way I did when I got here. But then again, I was planning to die about two months or so after I got here so the less I changed things the better… Hmm, I must be getting too relaxed around here… Especially after today… Damned arm; can't even move it right now. I knew I should have just rolled Ayanami's bed out of the way when I saw that steel bar about to fall; but no! I had to look cool and block it with my arm, didn't I? And those damn Angels… why the hell does it seem that they keep targeting my arm! Is it so obvious? No one else seems to have noticed that I barely use this arm anymore so what could it be? This angel though… took my arm and nearly the rest of me too… I'm so thankful right now that no one noticed the internal pressure of the plug, cause if they did… that damned Ritsuko probably wouldn't have even let me walk around …'

As he finished wrapping up the new injuries which now covered his frame, he walked over to a corner and sat down.

'Can't say I wouldn't agree with that decision though… if only I was as tough as everyone seems to think… If I at least had super strength or something this wouldn't suck so much… Why didn't those bastards at least give me some crazy super powers or something while they were at it? Damn this… ugh… sleep time…' his thoughts ended as he took two of the pills that Ritsuko had made for him and promptly passed out.

----------

"So who's our target this time?"

"A bunch of useless old men calling themselves SEELE or something…"

"What the hell, that's a stupid name…"

"Who ordered it?"

"Hell if I know… We just do what they're told…"

"SEELE, huh?"

"You know of them…?"

"No, but I'm sure they're the same type as the bastards who made us…"

"You're right… I'm going to enjoy this… I'll be sure to take it nice and slow…"

"Ha ha ha… You always were the one who enjoyed a good kill more than any of us, eh Shinji?"

----------

"Shinji?"

"Huh…? Oh, hey Ayanami, what's up…" Shinji said as he woke up and looked towards Rei who was seated on the bench in the room. 'Wait a minute… she wasn't here watching me the whole time, was she?'

"How long have you been here?" he asked, a bit unnerved.

"Approximately two hours." She said.

"What! Why were you watching me sleep!" He was about to comment on something else when he noticed something. Ayanami looked like she was smiling. Her face was the same as always, but her eyes held a certain light that gave the impression of a smile.

"You were lying, weren't you..?"

"Of course. Why would I wish to stare at you for an extended period of time…?"

"Damn, you're getting good at this… I almost didn't catch it…"

"Yes… I have been practicing what you described to me as a form of humor. It seems as though the appearance of 'friendship' between us has become common knowledge throughout the base."

"Yeah… It'll be to our advantage later on. How about my father? What is his reaction to this?"

"He has yet to voice an opinion on the matter but he seems displeased."

"Heh… I guess that's just a bonus then… Oh, that reminds me… What do you want?"

"Is it truly so hard to believe that I came here to talk with you?" she said, sounding almost hurt.

"You're not _that_ good yet…"

"Oh well… Anyway, I have been briefed as to our mission and was sent to inform you as to our current plan of action."

"Couldn't they have sent someone to wake me up?"

"They were going to do so, but the only messenger in all of NERV was currently asleep."

"That lazy… Wait a minute… You don't mean me, do you!"

"Of course. As I was saying…" she told him.

'What the hell! I am not a messenger!'

"Pay attention." She said as she realized that he was not.

"Oh, umm… you were saying?"

"Here is the schedule for the operation that will begin at zero hours tomorrow. Shall I read it?" saying that, she pulled a small black book from her pocket.

"Well… at least you don't try to hide your poor short term memory like Misato does… Ow! Did you have to throw that!"

"Yes, I did. Now listen to me or I will have to look for the captain."

"Ah! Okay. I'll shut up now."

"Anyway… Pilot's Ikari and Ayanami will assemble at the cage at 1730 hours. At 1800 hours, Eva Unit-01 and Unit-00 will be activated. 1805 hours, launch. At 1830, arrive at the temporary base on Mt. Futago. Await further orders. Commence operation at midnight."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"Not very informative, was it? All that really said was that we have to go to that Mt. Somethingorother. How are we gonna beat the angel with info like that?"

"Part of what I said was 'Await further orders.' You understand that, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but… any ideas as to what we are actually going to do?"

"I believe so. I was ordered to retrieve a fairly large rifle earlier. I would assume that it will be used."

"Fairly large? Just how big does 'Fairly large' mean?"

"It was bigger than the standard rifle by more than ten times so I would assume that to be considered fairly large. Does that answer your question?"

"Not in the slightest. Oh well, lets… Ow! Ouch! Damn it, stop throwing those things at me! What kind of idiot would leave those things just lying around like that! Ow!"

----------

"So, Shinji, How are you feeling?" Misato asked Shinji. He was currently in the Eva and was about to leave for the temporary base.

"Except for a few bruises, I'm fine." was his reply.

"So you did get hurt!" She shouted.

"Not at all, these happened afterwards. Right, Ayanami?"

"What! Why would Rei know that?" she said, shocked but ecstatic to have found a reason to make fun of him.

"Yes. I did tell you not to shake that thing, though." Rei said.

"Hey, it's not my fault! Damn thing got stuck!"

"This is why I told you to push it out with another."

"No way was I getting another one of those damn things!"

"And that's why it happened."

"Oh, right…"

"What are you both talking about!" Misato was completely confused at this seemingly random turn of events. "Damn it! Shinji, Rei! I order you to tell me what happened!"

"Hey look at the time!" Shinji said.

"Yes, we should be leaving now." Rei added.

"Damn it!" Misato shouted again as their Eva's were launched.

"What the hell was that about!" Misato was still curious.

"You didn't get it?" Ritsuko said, standing behind her.

"Get what! Don't tell me you understood them!"

"I thought it was pretty obvious."

"Then tell me!"

"No." Ritsuko said and left.

"That's not fair! Everyone's against me!"

"Perhaps you should be leaving as well, Captain Katsuragi." Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki said.

"Wha- Oh, umm… yes, of course!" She stammered and quickly left.

'I didn't get it either.' He thought to himself.

----------

"Whoah. That is a really big gun!" Shinji and Rei had arrived at the base of operations and Shinji was currently standing before, and gawking at, the huge rifle.

"I told you it was large."

"'Fairly large', right."

"Hey you two! Stop messing around and get over here!" Misato shouted towards them. Still a bit annoyed at having been left out of the loop.

"All right. Listen carefully to what were about to say." She told them as they walked over to her. "This is a positron rifle. NERV requisitioned it from the Japan-Strategic-Self-Defense Force research labs; it's still pretty much an experimental weapon, though."

"Requisitioned?" Shinji asked Rei. "She made you threaten the JSSDF guys with your big robot, didn't she?"

"Yes. It was rather entertaining to see them panic, however…"

"Hey! I said pay attention!" Misato shouted at Shinji.

"Oh, umm… you were saying?" he told her.

'Didn't he say that to me earlier as well? I should remember that line in case I need it later, it seems to work…' Rei thought.

"Anyway… According to our calculations, it can punch through the enemy's A.T. field even at this range… However, it's a precision instrument, not intended for field operations-and a system we've thrown together in a big hurry."

"Not very confident inspiring, is it?" Shinji said.

"Yeah, well, it's the best we could do in such a short time…"

"How about that big shield over there?" he asked.

"That? We've Jury-Rigged it from the bottom of a single-stage-to-orbit rocket that was given an electromagnetic coating. I can withstand the enemy's beam for seventeen seconds. Shinji, you'll be the gunner."

"Huh?"

"Rei will handle defense."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Rei, this is because despite the fact that Shinji's Synchro rate between Unit-01 and himself is slightly higher than yours. Precise operation is absolutely necessary this time."

"Now Shinji," Ritsuko told him. "Positron's are affected by the earth's magnetic field, and gravity—they won't travel in a straight line. Don't forget to correct for that."

"How?" he asked.

"Don't worry, just do it by the book. Just pull the trigger when the markers are centered on the target. The computer will do the rest." She continued.

"And if I miss…?"

"It would take twenty-seconds to cool, recharge, and fire the second shot. We anticipate a counter-attack within that time. If you can't dodge it… it's all over. In the last extremity, Rei's shield will protect you." Misato informed him.

"Oh, okay. In that case, I refuse." He told them.

"What do you mean, 'you refuse'! That's not an option!" Misato shouted at him.

"It is simple." He told her, not in the least surprised by her shouting. "I do not trust my accuracy enough to risk a comrade's life on it. If the computer will handle it, then it would be a better choice to have Ayanami shoot. And I can be the defense."

"Shinji! This is an order from your superior!"

"I told you before, Misato. I see neither you nor anyone else as one who can give me orders. If you do not agree with my deviation of your plans, then I refuse to follow them."

"Is that a threat!" She demanded.

"No, not a threat. It is an ultimatum. Change it a little, or do it yourself."

"Damn it! Fine, do what you will, but you better win!"

"If I do not, then there will not be anyone left to care." He said and walked off.

"What the hell!" Misato shouted once he and Rei had left to wait by the Eva's.

"I wonder if he's in a bad mood or something…?" Ritsuko thought out loud.

"I don't know but I'm going to make him pay for that!"

"I guess he really is changing…"

"What are you talking about, Ritsuko. He's still the annoying jerk he was when he got here!"

"Hmm… I wonder about that…"

"What do you mean?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, you semi-threatened Rei right now, right?"

"Well, sort of. I did want Rei to be the shield…"

"Yes. As the shield, you're obviously going to get hit. By implying your desire to have Rei be his shield, you were willing to place her in harms way."

"Oh, I get it. That's why he got so upset at me."

"Exactly. What is surprising though is that he didn't threaten to kill you this time."

"Wait a minute… You're right! Before, even implying you wanted Rei to get hurt was enough for him to threaten to kill you, and now, he didn't even mention it…"

----------

'All the lights have gone out…' Shinji thought to himself as he sat on the bridge set up by the Evas and gazed out towards the darkened horizon.

"Ikari…?" Ayanami called out to him.

"Hmm…" he said, implying he was listening.

"I wish to ask something of you."

"What is it?"

"Why do you seek to protect me so much?"

"What was that? Oh, I guess I never really have shown a reason. Why do you want to know now all of a sudden?"

"We could be dead in a matter of minutes and I would like to have one less thing occupying my mind if that time comes."

"Is that your reason?"

"Yes."

"Then I refuse to tell you."

"Why would you?"

"If that's one more thing occupying your mind, then it's another anchor holding you here."

"What? I do not understand…"

"Hmm… Let me say this then. In my experience when a person dies they tend to have a lot of regrets, right."

"Yes…" she said, not understanding yet.

"Okay, while having regrets is a bad thing, sometimes, as you are on the verge of death it could be those very things that you would regret not doing, or saying, or whatever that pushes you to stay alive. If you have something to live for, then you are more likely to remain living than if you do not."

"I think I understand…"

"That's good, I guess…" he said then they lapsed into silence again until Rei spoke up again.

"What do you have that anchors you to this world?"

"What, huh? Why don't you tell me first? Why do you pilot the Eva?"

"Because… it's my link."

"To what?"

"At first, to your father. But now I'm not so sure…"

"What do you mean?"

"I… I do not understand it fully yet… I feel as though it was my purpose. It's like I was born to pilot an Eva. If I stopped being a pilot, I would have nothing left. That's the same as being dead."

"You're wrong… Being dead is nothing like that… Even if you lost what seems to you to be your purpose in life, then that only means one thing."

"What?"

"That it wasn't your purpose in the first place. You can't be given a purpose; you have to discover it yourself. Otherwise, it's completely meaningless. While you still live you can search out a new purpose, but if you die, then you can not."

"I see… How do you know of such things?"

"Unfortunately, knowledge of this kind came by first hand experience… If I knew then what I know now, I wonder if things would have turned out the same way…"

"What happened to you before?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about this."

"Why would you say that?"

"It's… it's not something I feel like I'm ready to talk about yet… Maybe some other time, but not now, sorry"

"It's time." Rei said after a while longer. "Let's go."

"Hm? Oh, sure. Ayanami?"

"What?"

"There will only be at most two deaths tonight. I swear you won't be one of them. Goodbye." He said before steeping into his plug.

'Is he not planning on returning?' she thought as she entered her Eva as well.

----------

"This is it." Misato was informed.

"Rei…all the power of Japan is in your hands."

"Yes ma'am." She replied.

"Commencing primary connections. Begin transmission of power from blocks 1 through 803."

"Commence operation Yashima!"

"Voltage rising… increasing pressure!"

"Cooling systems at MAX output!"

"Positron influx nominal!"

"Secondary connections complete!"

"Accelerators engaging! Activate convergence unit!"

"Transfer all power to Mt. Futago temporary substation. Release final safety systems!"

"Tertiary connections nominal."

"Pull the hammer!"

As this command was shouted, Rei pulled back the huge bolt on the rifle, priming the fuse which served the same purpose as a cartridge would have in a sniper rifle. As she sat in the plug, facing her opponent at a huge distance with Unit-01 a short distance before her, a targeting computer lowered onto her head.

"Error correction for earth's rotation is +0.0009."

"Seventh and final connections engaged."

"Transmitting all energy to the positron rifle.

"Ten seconds to discharge. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six."

"High energy reading within the target!" Another tech by the name of Maya, said.

"Damn, it's spotted us!" Misato muttered. But if we can get in the first shot… we have a chance! Fire!" She shouted as the targeting computer in Unit-00 aligned itself with the enemy.

As Rei pulled the trigger, a huge beam of energy shot out of the end of the barrel. It was a huge bolt of power brighter than the sun and far louder than thunder. It caused massive gales of wind to flatten the surrounding countryside as it rocketed b overhead, heading towards its enemy at an unbelievable pace. The angel, however, was not to be outdone in this. It too shot its massive energy wave at that precise moment towards the fools who sought too seek it out in a form of combat which it had not only mastered, but perfected. As the two titans of light converged in the center of the battlefield, they twisted out of each others way, almost as if sensing that a collision with each other would cause an end to both of their existence. The blast shot by the Eva flew off into a nearby mountain causing no damage to the angel while its beam hit a little closer to its opponent. Not damaging it directly but nearly destroying the occupants of temporary base nearby.

"The second shot -- hurry!" Misato shouted.

"Exchanging fuses now!" Maya reported as the Eva pulled back the bolt, blowing out the spent cartridge in favor of a new one.

"Begin recharging!"

"Get the barrel cooled down!"

"I'm getting another high energy reading from the target!"

"Damn it! It's too soon." Misato said, an edge of desperation beginning to creep into her.

The occupant of the command center stared helplessly as the Angel shot another bolt of death towards the Eva once again.

"No!" they shouted as Rei sat in the plug and watched as the harbinger of her death sped towards her. She closed her eyes, waiting for her death to reach her. When it did not, she opened them again to find out why. Before her stood the purple juggernaut who had sworn to preserve her life in exchange for his. The beam struck the makeshift shield with its full strength yet the colossus did not yield even to this. Unfortunately, it's will seemed to be far greater than the strength of its equipment. The shield lasted all of five seconds in the face of this massive onslaught, then no more. As if in surrender, the shield disintegrated, but the one holding had no such fear of oblivion. It dug its feet in and spread its arms wide in defiance of its opponent's strength. The wave slammed into it yet again but found the way barred yet again.

"No!" the onlookers shouted, terrified.

"Damn it Ritsuko! It was supposed to have lasted seventeen seconds, not five!" Misato shouted at her.

"I don't now what happened!" She shouted back. "There was no way my calculations could have been that far off!"

"What do we do now! Last time, the Eva lasted about eight seconds before we pulled it down and it was nearly destroyed!"

Ten more seconds passed yet the defender had refused to falter. It's armor had met the same fate as the shield and it ran in rivulets down it's body. Glowing crimson due to the intense heat, it seemed as though the behemoth was shrouded in its own blood, yet it's determination shone brightly in its eyes. 'I will not fall!' they seemed to shout out.

"Now! Fire!" Misato shouted.

A fourth beam was shot out again that night. This one, unlike the others, found its way to its intended target and decimated it. It hit the Angel on one of its corners and it sliced into it with the ease which had been previously showcased. Upon its death, the energy beam it had shot faltered and died out. The titan had not fallen. Had not relented. Had not surrendered in the face of adversity. And now that it had fulfilled its promise, it kneeled down onto the ground. Its spirit was indomitable but its body had been pushed far beyond its possible limitations and as such, had shut itself down in an effort to remain alive.

"We did it!" the command center erupted in cheers. Unaware of the condition of the one who had saved them all yet again.

Unit-00 reached downward and ripped out the plug holding the pilot of the half-melted unit prisoner within it. The plug, normally smooth, was warped and bent with the force and heat which it had endured. As the LCL was ejected from it, it shot out at a massive speed due to the pressure and the superheated liquid vaporized instantly. Ayanami exited her own Eva and was in the process of reaching Shinji's when it opened on its own and the pilot stepped out of it. He took a shaky step forward and fell onto the ground. He tried to stand again and was almost able to when Rei reached him.

"Damn it… I'm still alive…" he muttered to himself.

"Are you alright, Ikari?" she asked, a thread of worry hidden in her voice.

"I'm fine!" he lied, clearly aware of his various injuries as he regained his feet.

"I do no believe you." She told him and tried to support him.

"I said I'm fine." He said and pushed her away. He managed one more step before Ayanami grabbed him again.

"What are you…" he managed to say before she interrupted.

"Stop lying to me!" she told him, shocking him into silence. "I refuse to allow you to die until you tell me what I wish to know."

"I… see…" he said. "You're keeping me alive for your own reasons…"

"If that is the only way to do so, then yes. You have helped me and protected me and I have yet to return any of those favors. If you die and I never get to do so, I will never forgive you, do you understand?"

"Ugh… fine… I'm stuck here until I'm useless to you, right?"

"Yes. Now let's head towards the command center before your injuries worsen."

"Yes ma'am…" he said as they stumbled towards the gathering of lights in the distance.

To be continued…

Oh man! That took forever! I normally get a chapter done in a few days, but this took way longer for me. It's not much longer than usual but this was the part, for me at least, where I would decide what path this story would take. I know it probably doesn't look that way now, but later on, I'm going to base the rest of the story on the small things I hinted in this chapter. I'm tired so that's it for now. Oh yeah! One more thing, did anyone figure out what it was that caused Shinji to get bruised? Tell me if anyone has any ideas as to what it was that happened or none of you will ever know! Review and I'll write sooner!

Later.


	6. Chapter 6

Whoa! Part six! Did anyone figure out what I was talking about last chapter at the end? Did anyone even care enough to think about it? It wasn't as obvious as it seemed. I did get a theory that it had to do with his sync ratio or that it was because he was stronger than what his body could handle… That was good and it did give me some ideas for later but… I'm afraid not… Keep reading and I'll let you know what it was…

----------

"How are you feeling, Shinji?" Misato asked him. It was a few weeks after the fifth angels attack but she had not seen him since then. The reason for that was because he was locked in his hospital room the entire time, as well as being tied to the bed for trying to escape… seven times… the first three days…

"Well… at least I'm out of that damned hospital… so I can't complain too much… Who am I kidding! Of course I'm gonna complain! Damn you Ritsuko! It's all your fault I was stuck there!"

"My fault!" Ritsuko shouted at him. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead already!"

"What the hell are you talking about! I didn't die in battle and there was no way I'd die after the damned thing was over!"

"Are you stupid! Did you really think that something that serious wasn't going to kill you! In fact, I'm surprised your even conscious right now… let alone walking around and yelling as loud as you do… You freak!"

"Me a freak! I go out, save the world, and how am I rewarded? I get tied to a bed for weeks on end, called a freak and… ack!" his complaining was brought to a stop by the introduction of Rei's bag into the back of Shinji's head.

"You should stop yelling, Ikari. You have only recently been released from the hospital. Shouldn't you be acting at least a little bit more… weak?" She said.

"Oh, hello Rei." Misato called out to her. "Glad you're finally here. Maybe you can keep Shinji quiet for a minute so I can tell you what we brought you guys here for."

"Oh that's right!" Shinji exclaimed as he picked himself up from the floor. "Why am I here?"

"Now that we're finally on topic… We wanted to show you this video." Ritsuko told them as it began running on the large screen at the back of the room.

"This was recorded off the coast of New Yokosuka at 3:00 PM." She went on.

"The United Pacific Fleet?" Shinji asked when he saw the armada of boats making their way across the ocean.

"Uh… yes… how did you know?"

"Well… they're a Fleet in the Pacific that's United, right?"

"Sometimes I don't know if you're a genius or an idiot…" she sighed.

"Maybe both?" Misato said.

"No. You are wrong." Rei interrupted them.

"Oh? Defending him, are you Rei?" Misato asked, smirking at her.

"He's an idiot." She said, ignoring Misato's reaction.

"You're probably right…"

"That boat just exploded!" Shinji interrupted. "Hey! Another one blew up!"

"Oh yes. That was the whole purpose of watching this… can't believe I nearly forgot… As you can clearly see. The fleet was attacked. Torpedoes were fired at the attacker with no effect. It was later confirmed that it was in fact, the sixth angel."

"Question." Shinji called out.

"What is it?"

"Why does the government insist on wasting millions of dollars of munitions attacking the angels when it never seems to have any effect on them in the first place?"

"Uh… I have no idea… Anyway, watch what happens when it attacks the large transport ship." As soon as she finished, the events which she told them about began to unfold. The large angel in the water attacked the ship, and as the ship exploded, a shrouded giant leapt from it. It soared through the air, the cloak trailing behind it as it landed on a nearby ship. It stood there facing the oncoming wake with its right arm hanging limply by its side while the left held its cloak draped over itself.

"Wow…" Shinji muttered.

As the giant crouched down, the long cloth that covered the blood-red Eva swirled around it. It then leapt forward again, allowing its cloak to fall to the wayside. It landed on the aircraft carrier then, pulling out a knife from its shoulder, faced the oncoming enemy. The angel jumped out of the water and attempted to crush it; however, the momentum of its flight and the leverage the Eva had allowed it to aid the angel on its voyage over the ship and tossed it over the side. Before it had time to recover, two nearby battleships opened fire on it at point-blank range, annihilating the target.

"True she had help from the Pacific Fleet -- But she defeated the angel within thirty-six-seconds… Before the internal batteries could run out. Evasive maneuvers, decision making, piloting skills -- Whatever you look at, she's perfect. Hard to believe the second child's abilities surpass even the rumors…" Ritsuko said once the video was over.

"But why was the angel _there_…?" Misato wondered.

"It could have been after Unit-02. It was being transported."

"And where's 02 now?"

"Cage no. 5 -- cold storage. Asuka's checked into a hotel."

"Wow…" Shinji repeated himself. "I had no idea that could look so awesome…"

"Impressed, Shinji?" Misato asked him.

"Ritsuko!" he shouted suddenly.

"Ye… yes?" she replied, thrown off balance by his sudden shout.

"I demand a cloak for my Eva!"

"What! What are you talking about!" Misato shouted. "I thought the battle would have been what would impress you!"

"It was interesting, but all she really did was jump around and toss a big fish over the side."

"Well… I suppose so but still…"

"No buts! I want a cloak for my Eva!"

"Why would you want something so useless, Ikari?" Rei asked.

"Sure, _you_ can complain it's useless, Ayanami, because your Eva isn't bright purple!"

"It seems like a waste of money…" Ritsuko muttered.

"Hey, is your life worth a bit of money!"

"What? Of course not!"

"Then stop complaining and go get me one! It shouldn't be that expensive, should it? You could even throw in a bunch of crazy inventions you've probably though up of but have no way to implement!"

"I'm not sure about this…" Her voice was wavering, implying that her resolve was breaking.

"Come on! What's the point of saving the world if you can't look cool doing it?"

"Oh, Fine! I'll get you your damn coat!"

"All right!" he shouted in triumph. "By the way, what's the pilot like?"

"Oh? Interested now? You're going to make Rei jealous!" Misato taunted.

"The hell? She's gonna fight with us, right? I really would be a complete idiot if I went into battle with unproven comrades."

"She's very bright, that's one thing. Graduated from a German University at fourteen." Ritsuko told him.

"Oh? That's impressive…" he said, quickly loosing interest.

"Hmm…" Misato said as she stared at Shinji and Rei. Then told them, "She could be the most normal of the bunch."

"You included, right Misato?"

"Hey! Stop turning my words against me!"

"Ha ha ha! Way too easy!"

"Well, I'll introduce you to her tomorrow, after we go through the official procedures. Come to HQ as soon as school lets out, okay?"

"Okay." He said as he walked out.

"So there were more Eva's out there?" Shinji asked Rei as they rode the elevator.

"Yes." She replied.

"You knew the whole time, didn't you!"

"Yes." She said again.

"And you never once told me!"

"Yes."

"Why not!"

"Yes."

"You're not even listening, are you?"

"Yes."

"Hey, did you know that idiots say yes?"

"Ye…" she managed to say as she realized what he had told her.

"Ha ha ha!" he laughed until Rei hit him in the face with her bag.

----------

"See you later Ikari. I'll go on ahead." Rei called out to Shinji after school the next day.

"Oh, okay Ayanami. See you later." He answered as she left.

"Hey Ikari! What was dat about, huh?" A voice called out to him. He turned and saw the guy he had beaten up a while ago facing him.

"Huh? Umm… Toji, wasn't it?"

"What! How could ya forget me like dat, eh?"

"Right… Anyway, what was what about?"

"Ayanami!" Toji's sidekick, Kensuke, said.

"What about her?"

"Well, she _talked_ to you! She's never just said something for no reason before, right?"

"Something happened between youse, didnnit?" Toji demanded.

"Like what?" Shinji asked, still not getting his meaning.

"Dammit, Ikari gets all the good parts. Can't you just be satisfied with a beauty like Misato…?" Kensuke complained.

"Ya better treat _us_ ta somethin'!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Wait… how the hell do you know about Misato!"

"Uh…" Toji stammered before being saved by Kensuke.

"Hey Toji -- look!" He called out, smiling creepily as he did so. The two walking behind him stopped and looked towards where he had directed them.

What had caught his Kensuke and Toji's attention was a red-headed girl playing with one of those rigged crane-thing games; UFO Catcher it was called.

"Whoa, whadda _babe_!" Toji said.

"_Totally_ my type." Kensuke added.

"Whoa!" Shinji said while thinking 'Isn't one of those dolls in the thing a character from Nadia!'

"Ikari! Yer not allowed ta look!" Toji shouted and grabbed his head.

"Argh! Damn you, let go!"

'Ooh, I can almost… almost see…' Kensuke thought to himself, crouching down.

'God damn these guys are perverted… No wonder I don't hang out with them…' was Shinji's thoughts on the whole matter.

"Ach!" the girl shouted and kicked the game shouting. "Scheiβe! What's wrong with this damn machine!"

'I was right! I see a Nadia doll right there! And is that…Is that supposed to be me! What the hell! If Misato is making money off of me she's gonna pay!'

"Now, too bad about her personality." Toji said.

"Just once, I wish a girl like that would order _me_ around♥!" Kensuke drawled.

'What the hell! That's just plain creepy! How the hell did he talk with a heart in his voice!' Shinji asked himself. The group, sans Kensuke, began walking away slowly when they noticed her turn around.

"Hey! What are you guys looking at?" She demanded.

"Huh?" Toji exclaimed.

"Oh Nuttin'…" Toji frantically exclaimed.

"Oh wow, she's _spoken_ to me…♥" Kensuke fervently muttered.

"Hrmph!" she huffed, facing them with her arms crossed.

"Gimme 100 yen." She then said after a moment of thought.

"Huh? 100 yen?" Toji asked, nervous at having Kensuke's creepy-smiled heart-eyed face so close to his own.

"I'm out of tokens. It's not much -- 100 each." She explained.

"You crazy? Why do we have ta…" Toji began shouting. Now that Kensuke was a safe distance from him, he was able to become angry.

"Cool. She's shaking us down!" Kensuke blathered on.

"It's a peeping fee. You saw my panties, didn't you?" She asked.

"N-not yet!" Toji said.

"Oh, puh-lease! Don't tell me you don't have _any_ money on you. Of course, if you _are_ broke, that could explain the way you dress. Pathetic."

'Damn she's mean…' Shinji thought.

"Ya bleach-brained bitch! Whadidyasay?" Toji demanded, now fully enraged.

"H-hey, Toji!" Kensuke said. Finally snapping out of his daze.

"Dontcha get on no high horse 'cause ya think yer _cute_!" he shouted, grabbing her arm.

"Ewww! Don't touch me, Monkeyboy!" She shouted right back. Then, as she pulled her arm away from him said, "Let me go!" Her arm was released, crashing into the back of the guy behind her with a loud **BONK.**

**KAPOW **the machine said as the simulated plane was destroyed.

"OH, NO!" the guy shouted out.

"Oops! Sorry." She apologized.

"You think sorry's gonna cut it! Finally got to the _last level_! Whatcha gonna do 'bout that, huh!" he shouted at her.

"This guy talks like the monkey too." She muttered.

"Toji, do something. He's got your accent!" Kensuke demanded.

"What does dat haveta do widdit!" he asked. Shinji watched over the whole thing, highly entertained at this turn of events.

"Yeah, you _gonna_ be sorry!" he threatened and grabbed her face.

'Big mistake!' Shinji thought. He was proven right as a split second later, her left foot came up and struck him squarely in the face, knocking him back and to the ground.

"Y-y-you… **Bitch!"** the guy shouted. "Hey, guys! Wanna come get some?" at his words, a group of six men walked out of the arcade and faced her.

"All right." They answered.

"Calling for backup against a kid…!" she said to herself. "Oh, look!" she shouted, pointing at the sky. While they were distracted, she threw a kick at one of the men's groin. Unfortunately, he noticed and grabbed her leg mid kick.

"Heh heh heh… Sorry, princess." The man told her. "That's not gonna work against me!"

"I think that's about enough." Shinji said. Noticing the disadvantageous position the girl was in.

"Who the hell are you!" Another asked. "We're a little busy right now so beat it kid, before we hurt you!"

"Now, now…. There's no need for violence." He told them in a condescending voice. "Just drop your wallets and leave, and I won't have to hurt you."

"What the hell! You bastard!" he shouted and punched at him. Shinji easily sidestepped and grabbed the man's arm. "If that is the way you wish for things to be…" he said then struck him in his outstretched arm, just a single punch. Surprisingly enough, the man fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Damn…" Shinji said as he pulled out the fallen guy's wallet. "Only 800 yen…"

Sensing an opportunity, another guy swung at Shinji with a length of pipe. Shinji ducked under it, and delivered a right elbow to the solar plexus, another knock out.

'What the hell is up with this kid!' the first guy thought to himself. We can't beat him going one-on-one…' "Gang up on him!" was his order.

Two more guys struck at him but hit nothing but air. He had stepped between and behind them and, with a swift turn, knocked them both out with a strike to the base of the skull. The next two came at him with drawn knives. They slashed and stabbed at him but missed every time. It was after one of them missed with an extremely wide slash that he was able to enter his range and deliver an uppercut to the neck, just above the actual throat. Hitting a nerve point at the base of his jaw, making him pass out as well. The sixth lunged at him with his knife extended before him like a sword. Shinji ducked backward and, with one leg raised, delivered a front thrust-kick to the chest, a sixth consecutive victory for him.

'Wh-what the hell!' the last and first guy thought to himself. 'H-he took out all my guys!'

"As fun as this is," Shinji told him as he searched through the pockets of the fallen victims, "I have somewhere to go so, if you don't mind, I'd rather have your wallet than your life." He extended his hand towards him and the guy, loosing all remaining courage, dropped his wallet and ran.

"No sense of loyalty…" he said as he retrieved it. "Hmm? Not bad, 12000 yen…"

"Who the hell are you!" the girl demanded, once the shock had worn off.

"Me?" he asked. "I am no one of importance. Just a shadow passing through, so if you'll excuse me..."

"What the hell!" She shouted as a powerful gust of wind blew into her face, blocking her vision. When she looked again, he was nowhere in sight.

"Wow… now that's an exit…" Kensuke muttered to Toji.

"How do ya think he pulled it off…?"

The girl was about to demand from the two who were left who the hell that guy was when a sound stopped her short. Police sirens, and close by…

"Ach, crap!" she shouted.

"The cops!" Toji shouted.

"See ya! Must run!" she yelled out.

"She's so fast… so cool." Kensuke began drawling again.

"Not now, Kensuke!" Toji shouted. "Run!"

As the girl and both guys ran off, Shinji stepped out of the store he had ducked into and looked around. 'Damn, I'd better get out of here too…' he though to himself and ran into an alley.

----------

'Well, that was fun…' Shinji thought as he arrived at NERV. 'Maybe I should go out and mug street punks more often, I forgot how much fun that could be!' Shinji's reminiscence was cut short when he heard a familiar screech.

"What's wrong with this damn machine!" the voice shouted, accompanied by the sound of a foot smashing against metal after every word. "Take that! And that!"

'Where have I heard that before…?' he thought as he rounded the corner and stopped short as he saw the one making so much noise.

"They just issued this card! Why won't it take it?" the red-haired girl shouted.

'Who the hell could she be? Is she a NERV employee? Hmm…' As Shinji walked towards the gate, the girl turned around to see who was approaching her.

Hiding the look of surprise which covered her face, she said to him "Well, well! What are _you_ doing here?" Shinji just smirked at her and kept walking towards the gate.

"Well!" she demanded. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"You'll find out soon enough…" he said and pulled out his own Id. He swiped it through the card reader and hid it in his pocket again as the gate before him opened.

"Damn you!" she shouted at him. "Don't ignore me!" He turned around once more and smirked at her again before the gate slammed shut between them.

----------

"Allow me to introduce Miss Asuka Soryu." Misato told Rei. "Asuka, this is the pilot of Unit-00, Rei Ayanami."

"How do you do?" Asuka said in a false cheery voice.

"Nice to meet you." Rei told her.

"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be two pilots?" Asuka asked Misato as she realized there was only one in the room.

"Yes… the pilot for Unit-01 was… delayed somewhat, but he will get here soon enough…" Misato informed her. "Speaking of which, what's his ETA Ritsuko?"

"Umm… section two reports that they lost sight of him…"

"What, again! Where is he now!"

"Right here." He called out.

"What the… Anyway, Asuka, this is the pilot for the first unit," Misato said.

"Shinji Ikari." He said

"Y-y-you!" she shouted at him.

"Indeed." He replied with a small nod.

"Oh?" Misato intervened. "When did the two of you meet?"

"Oh!" Asuka shouted and was about to say something when Shinji interrupted.

"I ran into her at the entrance earlier today."

"Oh is that it?" Misato asked. A little disappointed.

"Yes." Shinji told her. Then whispering to Asuka who was now standing next to him said "If you tell anyone I mugged those guys you'll pay for it."

----------

"I'm afraid it was and eventful voyage." A man said. He and another were standing in a large black room which had the Tree of Life engraved on the ceiling and floor.

"I never thought we'd run into an angel on our way here. So, was it because of _this_? Quite an amazing little cargo…! In suspended animation for now, but it's definitely alive. This is it, isn't it? The key to the instrumentality project…"

"That's right." The second man, Gendo Ikari, said. "You're holding the first human… Adam."

----------

"Grab whatever you want," Misato called out to the three pilots behind her in the NERV cafeteria, "although the pickings are slim."

"Drinking on duty, Misato?" Shinji asked.

"Shut up, Shinji! _One_ doesn't count!" She yelled at him before turning to Asuka who sat in front of her. "Nice fight with the angel! We saw it on videotape… I'd heard rumors about an amazing second child – head and shoulders above our little newbie, Shinji."

"Oh I _can't_ be _that_ good. Tee hee!" She giggled in her false voice. "I mean, really… I still have so much to learn!"

"Oh man…" Shinji said, shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Misato asked him.

"If I'm already better than her, we are really screwed over… Hasn't she been training to pilot for years? If I surpassed her in the few months I've been doing it… we're as good as dead already…"

"Why you…!" Asuka growled under her breath.

"Now, now Shinji… There's no need to be so mean to… AAK!" she screamed as someone grabbed her head from behind. "Wh--who's there? Cut it out!"

"Kaji!" Asuka squealed.

"What!" Misato shouted.

"Still drinking in the middle of the day, huh?" The man named Kaji told a stunned Misato. "Ya know… you're gonna get a gut."

"Wh - wh - what are _you_ doing here!" she shouted while scooting onto the table away from him.

"That's a nice way to say hello when we haven't seen each other in _forever_." He told her. "I accompanied Asuka on a business trip from Germany."

"Aww, where've you been?" She asked, clinging onto his arm.

"Well, good for _you_. If you're done with business, can't you be on your way?" Misato told him.

"'Fraid not! No plans to leave for the time being." He said.

"I see…" Misato sounded disappointed and extremely annoyed.

"Are you Shinji Ikari?" He asked when he caught sight of him.

"Hmm… yeah, but who the heck are you, and how did you know my name?"

"You're _famous_… at least in our biz!" he told him then, patting Rei's head said, "I know Rei, too, of course." She looked up at him with extreme disinterest, just how anyone could tell when she always looked that way however, was a complete mystery indeed.

"The third child who piloted an Eva in battle -- with _no_ prior training." He continued. "And who's defeated _three_ angels to boot!"

"Wow…" Asuka said, trying to get Kaji's attention on her again. "But I defeated the fourth…"

"Umm… yeah…" Shinji said. "It was more like two, seeing as I just kinda stood there during the fifth's attack… I could have used the backup of two huge battleships though…"

"Hehe… You must be a prodigy then…" Kaji told him. Asuka glared at him from behind Kaji, furious at Shinji for having made her efforts against the sixth angel seem almost meaningless.

"So I hear you're living with Katsuragi?" he then asked Shinji.

"Yeah…" he said.

"Does she still sleep sprawled all over the bed?" At Kaji's words, all three girls' mouths fell open. Misato's in absolute shock, Asuka's in rage and surprise, Rei's with a spoon heading towards it.

"And just what do you mean by that!" Shinji asked.

"Oh? Isn't it obvious?" Kaji said.

"God damn…" Shinji said, exasperated. "This world is either completely infested with perverts, or I have the worst luck in meeting people…" he stood up, still looking annoyed and said "If you'll excuse me…" At his words there was a loud crash off to the side and when they turned to look, it was a NERV employee who had dropped his tray. They turned towards Shinji a second later and he was already gone.

"Again!" Asuka nearly screamed.

"Now that was an impressive exit." Kaji said.

"How does he keep doing that!" Misato wondered.

'Ikari runs very fast…' Rei thought.

----------

"Say what!" A very loud voice thundered within the school building. "She's an Eva pilot? No way!" The owner of the voice, Toji this time, shouted.

"Yeah…" Shinji muttered.

"I wonder if only weirdos get chosen to be pilots." Kensuke wondered.

"Most likely…" Shinji said.

"Hey, Shinji?" he asked.

"What is it…?"

"Do you think I'm weird?"

"Hmm…" he said at looked at him. "No. You're more freaky than weird…"

"Well… we'll probably never see her again." Toji told Shinji. Then added "But hey! It's your Jay-oh-bee, so _you_ can't help it! I feel sorry for ya."

"And I _envy_ you… sigh." Kensuke added.

Their conversation was cut short as the door to the classroom opened and in walked the very girl two of the three were talking about.

"Yaaaaah!" Toji shouted.

"Oh… you three in the same class?" She told them. "Losers! Nyaah!"

She walked to the front of the class and introduced herself. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu. Nice to meet you."

"What's wid' all da kissass?" Toji muttered as she walked towards her seat and saw the whole class turning to get a better look at her.

"She- she looks so _cool_."

"Check out her hair! Golden-Red, and such body…"

"_Seriously_ cute. And her legs -- so _long_." The muttering about her went on from every person in the class except for three places. The teacher, who was currently babbling on and on about second impact; Rei's seat, because she couldn't care less; and Shinji's, because he was fast asleep.

"God that was soooo boring!" Asuka complained loudly to Shinji as she walked to NERV once class was over. "Japanese schools are so dull. What low standards!"

"Don't tell me -- it's not my fault. Besides, that's why I always sleep through it." He told her.

"And is that teacher stupid or what? He actually bought all that government disinformation?"

"Huh?" he asked.

There was a moment of stunned silence until Asuka exclaimed, "Oh my god… don't tell me you don't know? About the Second Impact?"

Shinji just shrugged.

"Heh heh." She laughed. "You don't know anything, do you? And you call yourself the third child?"

"If you say so…" he said, getting a bit annoyed at her taunting.

"Okay. Want me to tell you?" She asked and began anyway. "Fifteen years ago… a Humanoid Object termed the first 'Angel,' was found in Antarctica. During the probe, there was an explosion of unknown origin. _That_ was the _real_ second impact. And, _our_ duty, as Eva pilots, is to _prevent_ a _Third Impact_ from ever happening! So they kept you ignorant of most of the facts? Unbelievable!"

"Right…" he said.

"What's with that attitude!" she shouted. "I go out of my way to enlighten you and you have the nerve to act that way!"

"I never asked for an explanation. I did not know because I did not care enough to find out. It seems to me that you wanted a reason to flaunt your superiority over me, am I right?"

"Why you… How dare you talk to me like that!" She shouted before being interrupted.

"Excuse me… Could I get by?" Rei said, coming out of nowhere.

"Hey! Wait a sec, First!" she called out to her and ran forward the small distance between them.

"Now what?" she asked.

"I hear you're commander Ikari's _pet_… Even though you're frigid as a _stone_." She taunted her.

"And what business is that of yours?" She asked her before looking away.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you! Don't make a fool of me just because you're the current favorite!" She shouted as she grabbed Rei by the shoulder.

"I think that's about enough." Shinji told her.

Asuka turned around and was about to yell something at him when his eyes stopped her short. It was the same look he had when he fought those thugs. His face was smiling but his eyes were glinting dangerously.

"I see…" She said once she composed herself. "So that's how it is… First Misato, now you guys… I can't stand it!" she shouted out to both of them and was about to run off when Shinji spoke again.

"Don't be an idiot."

"Wha- who are you calling an idiot!" she demanded.

"You, of course. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet…"

"Figured what out!"

"Heh, not even the question, huh? Look, Ayanami here is the favorite for obvious reasons."

"What the hell are you talking about!"

"Ugh… too complicated for you? Ayanami is favored over the three of us because of this: You, he doesn't know because you two have never met; Me, I've threaten to kill him before and generally take any and all chances to make him look like an idiot. That, obviously leaves only one. In the commander's position, which one would you choose?"

"Uh… I guess…" she muttered.

"Besides, what kind of idiot would want to actually spend time with that bastard?" he smirked at the confused Asuka and the angered Rei, angry because he indirectly called her an idiot, and walked off past them. They turned to find him gone.

"Argh! Next time I find him, I am so forcing him to tell me how he does that!" Asuka ranted and stormed off.

Rei stood there and waited until she was out of sight before calling out, "She's gone…"

At her words, Shinji jumped down from where he had climbed up in the split second before Asuka had turned.

"So who's an idiot!" she asked him.

"Umm… heh heh… Anyway, what do you think about the new pilot?"

"She seems a bit stuck up and it appears as though it will be hard to work with her…"

"Yeah well… I thought the same about you when we first met…"

"What?"

"It's true… at first, no matter what I said or did, you didn't seem to react in the slightest. Then again, living as long as you did with the commander would have driven most people insane…"

"Yes… compared to now… those times seem awfully bleak."

"But in truth," he lightly held her chin in his hand, leaned close to her and whispered "who would have realized that behind such a cute face lay so much… sadism." He saw the shocked expression on her face at his words as well as the crimson blush across her features and, smiling slightly, turned and walked away.

As Rei's mind frantically tried to reboot, the part that was still conscious thought over his words. It's when she got up to the 'sadist' part that she acted.

"Why you!" she shouted at him and threw her bag at him. Surprisingly enough, it reached him and slammed, corner first, into the back of his head, possibly knocking him out.

----------

"Still a world class workaholic, eh, Ritsuko?" Kaji asked as he wrapped his arms around her neck as she sat in her lab, examining the latest Eva test readouts. "By the looks of things, you don't even have a boyfriend yet, do you?"

"Ah, Kaji. Long time no see." She told him once she confirmed his identity.

"The guys at NERV have surely lost theirs -- to leave a rose like you lonely."

"Ha, ha… you haven't changed a bit!"

"Perhaps I should be the one…?" He asked her and turned her face to look at him.

"You say that, but you don't mean it. So... best to move that hand… because there's a scaaaary lady watching us." She said as Kaji noticed Misato was in the room.

"Unbelievable!" She shouted at him. "Why are you _always_ like this! You never learn!"

"Take it outside…" Ritsuko complained.

"It's my prerogative!" Kaji protested. "Besides, what do _you _have to get mad about? I thought there was nothing more between us. Unless… you haven't gotten over me?"

"F YOU!" She shouted and punched the wall to the left of his head, leaving a crater which could have easily been mistaken as being caused by artillery or other similarly large caliber weaponry."

"Even if I was young, it was the worst mistake of my life to go out with you!"

"Don't get so upset -- you'll get wrinkles." Kaji counseled.

"SHUT UP!" She yelled and was about to keep going before she was interrupted by the alarm.

"Now what?" Kaji wondered, looking towards the speaker on the wall.

"An enemy attack!" Misato shouted.

----------

"Cruiser Haruna on watch reports a large submerged object off the Kii peninsula."

"Sending data now." The reports came in and it was confirmed that the seventh angel had arrived as a tech said "Pattern blue. It's an angel!"

"Level one battle stations!" Fuyutsuki commanded.

"All Eva pilots!" Misato's voice blared though the speakers. "Prepare to sortie!"

Asuka turned towards the speaker from which the voice came from and thought to herself. 'Alright! My first battle in Japan! I'll show those other two that I am indeed the greatest!'

Likewise, Shinji and Rei noticed as well. Shinji was still laying on the floor with blood oozing around his head while Rei poked him with her foot to gauge whether she had really killed him or not. "Damn. Time to work…" Shinji said and stood up.

"Tokyo-3's Intercept System is still under repair from the _last_ alert! We're only at 26 effectiveness…" the soldier reported to Misato "For tactical purposes that's Zero"

"We've got to intercept the target on the waterfront -- before it gets ashore!" Misato commanded. "Understand!"

"Unit -01 and 02 will attack the target in turns. Close combat regs." She then said, turning to the two pilots.

"Why isn't Ayanami fighting with us?" Shinji asked.

"That's because her Eva, while not damaged during the last attack, still has some errors and it would not be safe to deploy it in combat."

"Oh, alright."

"We'll power up the Evas when you reach the surface."

"Okay! Sure thing, Misato!" Asuka replied in her fake voice.

"Oh great -- personality #2!" Shinji complained to himself.

"I heard that." She said on the small image next to Shinji's head. "I'm really all they need for this. Try not to get in my way,_ maggot_."

"Fine. If we lose, it'll be your fault." He said as he cut communications with the red Eva.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted, angry because he seemed to have cut off the bridge as well.

"What?" he said, surprising her.

"Umm… never mind…"

"Unit-01 and 02, lift off from linear route 26!"

As the purple and red behemoths reached the surface, they reached down towards the ground and connected their power cables to themselves. "Umbilical cables connected! Begin power transmission!"

As the two units moved forward, they walked into the flooded remnants of the old Tokyo. The red Eva had a spear while the purple one carried a rifle.

"Come and get it!" Asuka said as she stood before her enemy.

"Here it comes…" Shinji said as the wake came into view.

"I'll go first!" Asuka declared. "You better back me up!"

As the wake exploded, the angel appeared amid an explosion of water. It had a humanoid shape and its arms were long and curved, almost like a boomerang on its body. It had two cores and its face was like a mask made up of two distinct parts, much like the yin-yang symbol, only different colors.

"Begin attack!" Misato ordered. The red unit ran forward hefting her spear as Shinji aimed and fired with his rifle. The rounds did nothing as they were deflected by the A.T. field but it did cause enough of a distraction to allow Asuka to close in within melee range.

"Looks good!" Asuka shouted as she leapt up and brandished her spear. She slammed it down with the full length of her weight behind her. The immense power concentrated in that attack was enough to slice the angel in half with that one strike.

"Beautiful!" Misato shouted. "Good job, Asuka."

"Oh… it was nothing." She simpered.

"You moron!" Shinji shouted and ran towards her.

"What are you doing!" She demanded as he roughly pushed her aside. He spun his Eva around and delivered a spinning side-heel-kick to on half of the angel which was beginning to regenerate.

"Don't you ever turn your back on an enemy!" he shouted at her.

"What!" both Misato and Asuka shouted as both angel halves formed into two separate entities.

"No way! What the hell!" Asuka shouted. "No fair!"

"What the hell?" Shinji said. "Of course it's fair. There are no rules for a fight to the death!" With that he opened fire again on one of the two angels.

"Damn this rifle's useless!" he shouted and tossed it to the side. He ran forward and punched at the angel instead. It reeled back from the strike and Shinji kept hammering it, unfortunately with little to no effect seeing as how any injury he was able to cause healed almost instantly.

Asuka however, was fairing just as well as he was. She struck with her weapon but it healed just as fast.

"Asuka, aim for the core!" Misato shouted. She stabbed through the core with her spear but it healed just as fast as the rest of the injuries it had sustained.

"It's no use!" She shouted. "Now what!"

"Hng!" Shinji grunted as he was thrown up into the air

"What the?" Asuka said as she turned to see what had happened to him.

While she was distracted her Eva was also picked up by her opponent. The two angels threw the Evas at each other and mid-flight, Shinji spun around, kicked off of Asuka's Eva which was then slammed into the ground and delivered a flying kick to the one who tossed Asuka. He spun it around by its leg until releasing it in the direction of the second one. They smashed into each other and flew back a ways until hitting the ground. Unfortunately, they just stood up with no visible damage.

"Damn! Now what!"

"Shinji! Grab Asuka and get the hell out of there! We're gonna drop an N2 mine! It's on its way!"

"What the hell! You couldn't wait for us to leave!" Grabbing the leg of the disabled Unit-02, he retreated shouting "Run away!" he barely managed to dive into an emergency entry after tossing Asuka in before the N2 mine detonated.

----------

"At 4:03 AM, NERV gave up the right of command which was transferred to UN-2" The pilots were informed after the whole embarrassing situation was over.

"Tsk! Tsk!" Fuyutsuki said.

"I--I'm sorry…" Misato mumbled.

"….." the pilots said.

"At 4:05, the target is attacked with a new N2 bomb resulting in a twenty-eight percent incineration of the target."

"So they're dead?" Asuka asked.

"It only immobilized them. Their healing systems are no doubt at work." She was answered.

"You two!" The commander finally spoke.

"Yes…" they answered unenthusiastically.

"Do you know what your jobs are?" he demanded.

"To pilot Eva…?" Asuka asked.

"No." he said. "It's…"

"To defeat the angels." Shinji interrupted.

"That is correct…" he said, getting angry. "NERV does not need this sort of Negative attention."

"I would disagree on that, _commander_…" Shinji told him.

"What?"

"In fact, I believe that this shows exactly how difficult it is to combat the angels with limited equipment, nearly non-existent intel, and an incompetent commander."

"Is that so…"

"Yes, it is. Perhaps you truly have no idea how it feels to be ordered to fight to the death with opponents as monstrous as they are, but I assure you it is not an easy task."

"I suggest you watch your tone, _pilot_. I assure you that you are not as indispensable as you seem to think you are." He told him and walked out of the room.

Fuyutsuki followed, a bit shocked after this conversation, with Rei trailing behind. She looked extremely reluctant to have to be in the presence of the commander after talking with Shinji but did not see a way to get out of it.

----------

"My first battle in Japan was _ruined_ -- because of _you_!" She shouted at him after they had left the briefing room.

"What the hell? How is your failure my fault?" he demanded.

"Did you forget already? It's because you stepped on my precious Eva and slammed it into the ground!"

"Hey! It was either that or get slammed into each other. We were both gonna get knocked out then so I had to choose at least one of us to be able to retreat."

"So why did it have to be you!"

"Maybe because you have the reflexes of a dead cow!"

"A dead cow!"

"Yes! A festering old carcass!"

"Why you bastard! How dare you call me a cow?"

"Then don't act like one!"

"And what, you think you're any better!"

"You said so yourself, didn't you?"

"Well… that's because…"

"You tried acting humble, right… That just makes you look like an idiot! Acting like that's gonna get you nowhere! It just makes people think you suck! It just takes one person to make a statement like what I said to make people believe it! Besides, I did tell you that if we lost, it would be your fault, didn't I?"

"Oh, now it's my fault!"

"If you hadn't charged like the idiot you are…"

"What did you say!"

"Hey! Squabbling at a time like this?" Kaji asked from behind Asuka.

"Oh! Mr. Kaji! ♥" Asuka squealed.

"What better time than now?" Shinji said.

"Ha ha, you might have a point! By the way, that was an impressive 'conversation' you had with the commander."

"Yeah I thought so… It was either that or let someone else take the blame…"

"So you took the bullet for everyone? How noble!"

"What…? No, it was nothing that great… I just didn't want him to keep on talking…"

"I see! Okay you two -- how about dinner? You haven't eaten yet, have you?" he said and grabbed Shinji by the shoulder and led them forward.

"Yay! I'd love to go out with you! ♥" Asuka said.

"Say, Kaji… what about Misato?"

"I'll doubt she'll get any supper tonight. Being in charge sometimes means taking the heat."

----------

"That's it!" Ritsuko said, gesturing towards the mountain of paperwork currently piled on Misato's desk. "Damage reports and protest from each pertaining ministry. And here's the bill from the UN." She finished and handed her a small envelope.

"How's the Eva repair going?" She asked and threw the bill to the side.

"Five days in the shop." She said.

"And the angels?"

"Currently regenerating. Magi predict a new attack five days from now."

"So both sides are out of action for the time being…"

"Commander Ikari wasn't happy."

"I bet… You'll probably get fired the next time you fail."

"Hey don't talk like that!"

"Of course, a really bright idea might help keep your job…" She said and held up a small disk. "Say… this one?"

"An idea! For me! Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, you're amazing!" She shouted.

"Sorry -- I didn't come up with it…"

"What? Then who?" She said and looked at the disk labeled 'To my honey ♥'.

"I don't want it." She said, holding it off to the side.

"So you'd rather get fired?" She asked, still smiling.

----------

"You understand don't you, Mr. Kaji…" Asuka complained as they ate. "That that truly didn't represent my _real_ abilities? Of course, I don't know about Shinji…"

"Hey! Incase you forgot I actually survived the attack!"

"Why you…!"

"C'mon you two -- don't get so upset. The match isn't over _yet_. Just work harder next time."

"Aw, but with the Evas broken, who knows when we'll _get_ a next time?" Asuka complained.

"Would the pilots for Eva Unit-01 and 02 please report to the second conference room at once." The intercom. blared. "Repeat, would the pilots for Eva Unit-01 and…"

"See, you're wanted already. Good luck…" Kaji told him.

----------

"I wonder what the hell it is that they could want…" Shinji wondered.

"It doesn't really matter -- but you're so inconsiderate!" she shouted.

"Wha…?"

"Mr. Kaji asked _me_ out to dinner, but I couldn't be alone with him! Why did _you_ have to tag along!"

"Poor guy…" Shinji muttered.

"What was that!"

"You're gonna get him arrested one of these days…"

Before Asuka had a chance to reply Misato showed up and said "Shinji, Asuka. This way."

"Were are we going?" Shinji asked after a few minutes of walking.

"To prepare for your next operation. Just follow me."

"Our next operation?"

"Our supercomputer simulations have revealed that the halves of the seventh angel are operating in perfect tandem. Even divided it acts with one mind. The only way to defeat the seventh angel is to attack both cores at once. It'll take perfect timing from both Evas. We'll need complete harmony between you two or the missions a failure. Here we are. Come on in."

"Wh-what is this?" Asuka asked as they walked into a room.

"it's a regular twin bedroom…" Shinji said.

"Welcome to your new quarters! You'll be living here for the next five days."

A moment of silence and then a shout that reverberated across the whole of NERV. "WHAAAT!"

To be continued…

Alright, time to clarify some things. First, about the dolls in the crane-game-thing, they really are there. I was staring at the picture, trying to think what to write and I realized it was there! I'm guessing about the Shinji doll but it is possible… Okay then, next point, the fighting. I wasn't exaggerating about the simple seeming one-hit-KO's. I saw a program on TV on Sunday I think it was… about Martial Arts on the discovery channel and it gave me an idea as to what to do during fights… If anyone saw it then they'll get why they went down so fast. If not, then take my word for it. That's it I'm done… Oh right! Almost forgot! The reason? --- A vending machine fell on him… Seriously… look back at his conversation with that thought in mind and it makes sense. Sorry if anyone thought it was some hugely important thing or something but… just random stupidity…

Later!


	7. Chapter 7

Alright, #7 coming up. Come to think of it… this chapter is going to be pretty interesting to write… from what I recall at this moment, most of the humor in this part had to do with Asuka's strong personality clashing with Shinji's weak one… This means… I get to make more stuff up… is that good or bad…? Can't tell yet. Oh well… better stop stalling and get to work… Oh yeah, one more thing, this damn thing keeps messing up my punctuation. I don't know how it'll look after I post but, if I'm missing a whole lot of question marks or something, it's not my fault

----------

"You've got to be kidding!" Asuka yelled, still not over the initial shock of Misato's announcement. "Live together for five days? We're of the opposite sex!"

"Misato… WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Shinji wasn't taking it much better.

"What are you so upset about?" Misato asked, puzzled at their outburst. "This is an operational necessity! You two must be in _perfect_ harmony! Training all day together _isn't_ enough! We need to synchronize your biological rhythms as well. So you're going to sleep together, eat together, and train together -- that's all. What's the big deal?"

"Sleep together?" Asuka yelled.

"There are two beds." Misato said.

"TRAIN?" Shinji shouted.

"Yes, train. Stop being so lazy, Shinji! You have to do some training every now and then."

"What the hell! Is this supposed to be punishment for losing earlier? Cause if it is, I'm so not losing again!" he complained.

"That's the spirit!" Misato said and thought 'Alright! This is payback, Shinji!'

"B - but -- what if Ikari gets horny in the middle of the night!" Asuka panicked.

"Damn it Misato! Why am I being locked up for five days with such a huge pervert!"

"Me! You're the pervert!"

"What are you talking about! I've yet to do a _single_ perverted thing since I got here! You, on the other hand, have been going on non-stop!"

"Why you…"

"See, you're getting along fine already! I'm sure you have everything here that you'll need, but if there's something I missed, call me over the intercom. Wakeup call is at 6:30 AM. G'night!" Misato said and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute…" Shinji muttered.

"Huh? What is it?" Misato asked.

"I get it now… This is payback, isn't it! Damn you! I'll make you suffer for this one!"

"Ahh!" She screamed and ran out as the door closed behind her, keeping him caged in. 'Oh crap…' Misato thought as she slumped against the wall. 'I just locked Asuka in a room with him… Technically that's not murder… right!'

"Reality has become a nightmare!" Asuka despaired, unaware of the danger Misato thought her to be in. "beating the angel _can't_ be worth it… Arggggh! If only I could be cooped up with Mr. Kaji! But _Shinji_!"

"You do know that if the angel wins, we all die and everything and everyone you know will be completely obliterated, right?'

"Of course I know that you idiot!"

"Oh, okay, just checking." He said and fell onto the bed opposite her.

"Hmph! I'm going to take a shower." She said and stood up. She walked to the bathroom door and turned back to tell him "Let me remind you… _No_ peeking."

"See! You are a pervert!"

"Why do you keep saying that!"

"Heh heh heh… I was hoping you'd ask…" he chuckled.

'Why did I do that…?' Asuka admonished herself.

"In this world," Shinji began. "There are many humans in life. There are just as many viewpoints on that life. Why, you might ask? It's because everyone taints the reality of existence by comparing everything to themselves."

"So what does that mean?"

"You didn't get it? Maybe Ritsuko lied…"

"Well! Are you going to tell me or what!"

"Sigh… Fine, I'll simplify it for you. You see everyone the way you do because of your inherit traits. Henceforth, you yourself are a pervert."

"Why you! I am not a pervert!"

"If you say so…"

"Hmph!" she huffed and walked into the bathroom.

'This is gonna suck…' Shinji started thinking and sighed heavily. 'What kind of moron decided this was a good idea? Then again… at least it's better that this is with Soryu. If this was with Ayanami… I doubt I'd survive long enough to actually fight... Come to think of it… why in the hell did she get so violent! One minute she's quiet and calm and all of a sudden, she's throwing things at me! What did I say to get her like that? Whatever it was, I'd better avoid saying it to Soryu, there's no telling how bad she'd get… I wonder if she's just repressed after being stuck with the commander so long…'

"Shinji." She called out from the bathroom door. "Sorry to keep you waiting! I'm all freshened up! ♥" 'I'll prove he really is a pervert!'

He looked towards her and saw her in what appeared to be only a towel. "You're done? My turn." he walked past her and headed into the bathroom.

"Umm… So, how do I look?" she asked, surprised that he had basically ignored her.

"Like a girl in a towel."

"Is… is that it?"

"A _perverted_ girl in a towel."

"Oh, I see… it seems you have no interest in women…"

"No, that's not it… I wonder though, does a guy _have_ to be a pervert in order to be considered straight?"

"Uh…"

"And I know you're not naked so stop acting like it."

"What! There's no way you can tell!"

"So… you're telling me you routinely walk around nearly naked in front of guys you barely know?"

"No way!"

"Then…?"

"Argh! Just shut up and go away!" she finally shouted.

"Fine… but no peeking!"

"Why you…"

'Heh…' Shinji thought once he was in. 'This might be fun after all…'

----------

"Now, what you're looking at is the choreography to the dance you're going to practice. Got that?" Misato told the two the day after. She was met by a pair of blank stares. "You're going to memorize this by heart." She continued, unfazed.

"A dance?" Asuka asked.

"Dressed like an idiot…?" Shinji said.

"Quit complaining!" Misato shouted. "Appearance is vital in order to create the _mood_ for this kind of thing!"

"Mood… So you're saying, Misato, that you're willing to risk your life in order to create _mood_…?"

"The enemy shares _one_ mind with _two_ bodies, so it's vital you two learn to move in unison. Memorizing an attack pattern based on music is the quickest way to master perfect harmony. We've only got four days, remember?" she said.

"I chose the music and did the choreography, by the way." Kaji said as he walked in.

"Mr. Kaji! ♥" Asuka squealed.

"I can do this by myself." She told him.

"Now, now…" he said.

"Let's practice the first part then, listen carefully… and begin!"

And so the dance of death commenced. Asuka moved with all of the grace and poise of a born dancer. Shinji with all of the grace and poise of… a drunk bear…

"Uh… umm…" Kaji muttered, trying to find something, anything positive to say about the situation.

"Well?" Misato asked him. "Looks like this will take more time than I thought."

"This is almost frighteningly bad…" he said as Shinji fell again.

"Three straight hours of practice to start…" Shinji complained.

"What are _you_ whining about! It's only difficult because you're a klutz! It would have been _perfect_ if I were by _myself_."

"Yes… what a great idea… you really are a genius…"

"What the heck are you saying now!"

"It can't be that hard to synchronize with yourself, can it…?"

"Why you arrogant…!" she began to yell before being silenced as his gaze hardened and looked past her.

"Oh… Commander." She muttered as she realized who it was.

"How's it going?" he asked, mainly directing his question at Asuka.

"We'll definitely win four days from now!" she answered him.

"I see. I'll be looking forward to it." He told her and walked away.

"Commander!" Shinji called out to him.

"What is it?" he asked him coldly.

"After this one there's what, ten left?"

"Yes…" he answered.

"I hope you can get your affairs in order by then." He told him, his tone far colder than even the commander's.

"….." was all that he said as he watched his son walk away.

----------

"I can't believe Misato insisted we listen to this music even at _night_." Asuka complained as she grabbed a soda out of their mini-fridge and sat down on the edge of his bed. "I'm so sick of it. Aren't you, Shinji?" She noticed that he was staring up at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought so she decided to ask, "What's with you and your father?"

"Huh? What was that?" he said and sat up, pulling a pair of earplugs out.

"Your father," she repeated. "What's up with you two?"

"Father…? Oh, the commander… its nothing… how about you? How do you get along with yours?"

"I don't have a father." She stated.

"I see… so, were you grown or something?" he asked her.

"Yeah… something like that…" she answered him while Shinji thought 'The hell? I meant like a plant…'

"Ever heard of a sperm bank? My father was one of the sperm that my mother withdrew from the bank. I was conceived in a test tube."

"Oh..."

"My mother chose a _very_ exclusive sperm bank. The donor passed a strict qualification test on academic background and character. Of course, the women who buy the sperm have to be similarly qualified as well." She went on.

'This is a very… strange conversation…' Shinji told himself.

"And my father was the best of them -- from a genius scientist. So I was born through the combination of an elite sperm and an elite egg. Which means… I was a chosen being, a special person."

"So that's why you told me… But how did such a dysfunctional person result from an elite sperm and egg…?"

"What was that!"

"You truly believe yourself to be superior to everyone else?"

"Of course! I was chosen from among many to be an Eva pilot… and I fight and defeat the angels… and if anyone acknowledges those accomplishments… then I'd be happy."

"I see… what about after?"

"Huh?"

"When there are no longer any angels to fight and no reason to pilot your Eva, what then? If that seems to be the only way to validate your existence, what will you do when even that is gone?"

"….."

----------

"Mommy…" Asuka whimpered.

'Huh…? Oh, she's talking in her sleep…'

"Mommy… why did you have to die…?" he heard her sniffling slightly.

'I see… She's still just a normal girl… despite her arrogance… That's good… she won't be completely useless to me…'

----------

On the day before the battle, training was as long and intense as was physically possible. Asuka followed the dance routine perfectly while Shinji… was… uh…

"Okay, stop!" Misato shouted. "Shinji, you haven't changed at all, have you?"

"Uh… umm…"

"Yes. It seems as though you have actually gotten worse, Ikari." Rei told him. She had been watching since the day before but the reason for which had yet to be explained to them.

"Ugh… probably… Asuka!"

"Yes…"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to leave Shinji behind! Try to _synchronize_ with him."

"I can't do that -- you're asking me to lower my abilities to _Shinji's_ level! Shouldn't _he_ be getting in sync with _me?_ Besides… why has the first -- Ayanami… been watching us since yesterday? It distracts me… how am I supposed to concentrate?" She complained.

"Sigh… Rei." Misato said.

"Yes."

"Could you try for a sec instead of Asuka?"

"Yes." She replied as she walked over to stand by Shinji.

"You understand what to do, right?" Shinji asked her.

"Yes…" she replied.

As the music began to play, the dance commenced.

"My god…" Kaji muttered. "I never thought I'd ever see anything as bad as Shinji's dancing, but… this is worse…"

"They both move like they're drunk but… look! They're moving exactly the same!" Misato told him.

"You're right… they even fell at the same time…"

"If Unit-00 weren't being repaired… we'd pair Rei with Shinji without a second thought." She said to no one in particular.

"Fine." Asuka said. "Why not just send her in my Unit-02?"

"Asuka?" Misato asked.

"Excuse me!" she shouted and ran out.

"Asuka!" Misato yelled after her but she was already gone.

"What the!" Shinji said as he saw her leave.

"Oh, god -- we don't have _time_ for this!" Misato panicked. "So much for the jealousy gambit!"

"Shinji…" Kaji called out to him. "What are you doing? Go after Asuka."

"What…? B-but…"

"This is your job, too."

"… No way…" he said.

"Ikari, go." Rei ordered.

"Why should I?" he demanded.

"She is the only one you can fight with and I do not wish to be obliterated."

"No way." He said again. She walked up to him, placed a hand on his arm… and tossed him out the door.

"Now." She commanded.

"Ugh… fine…" he muttered as he got up off the floor.

"That was a strange sight…" Kaji told Misato.

"You'll get used to it." She told him.

----------

Out in the center of the Geo-front lay a huge garden. It was here where Shinji found Asuka staring into the water.

"Soryu…" he called out to her.

"What do you want? Why did _you_ follow me?"

"Uh…" he said and thought 'Crap! What the hell am I supposed to say in this situation!'

"Why am I the one getting yelled at? I'm doing it perfectly. _You're_ the bumbling klutz. _You're_ the slowpoke. Why take it out on _me_!"

"Pathetic…" he said.

"What!"

"I said pathetic. You still don't understand do you!"

"Understand what!"

"We're not training to out-dance the enemy! This whole thing is about synchronization! The reason you think you're doing well is because you can already dance. This isn't about that. It's about matching the exact movements of your partner in order to secure victory."

"I don't need your advice!" She shouted at him. "I'm going to become the greatest and there's nothing I need from someone like you!"

"Stop being an idiot!" he shouted at her, sounding angry now. Asuka, never having heard that tone of voice directed at her, complied.

"You're going to become the greatest? The greatest what… exactly? Because no matter what you decide to become the best at, I assure you it won't happen. Not the way you are now, anyway. When around Kaji, or Misato, or even the commander, you aren't even yourself. You lie to yourself and hide what you truly are. It is only those who can truly discover themselves that are capable of being crowned the greatest. You, on the other hand, have a long way to go…"

"Oh shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She yelled. "You have _no_ right to say this to me! Who do you think you are! You have no idea how much I've suffered! If I don't become the best, everything I've gone through will have been meaningless!"

"Ha ha ha…" Shinji laughed quietly then, spoke to her in the same cold tone he used with the commander when he promised to kill him. "No idea how much you've suffered? Do you have any idea what suffering is?"

"Of course I know! I've been experiencing it all my life!"

"You have no idea what it is!" He was undeniably angry now. "Oh poor you, you watched your mother die…! Is that the best you can come up with! I've seen my mother die, saw my bastard of a father abandon me! Suffered abuse, neglect and torment almost non-stop until I came here and was then ordered to fight to the death against those like myself! If you can ever somehow match this, then you are welcome to say you've suffered! Until then don't talk about things that are far above your league! There is no need to return if this is your decision. I'll fight alone if I have to. It's better than with dead-weight hanging around." He walked away and left her to her thoughts.

'Heh… not bad, kid…' Kaji said from his hiding place behind a pillar.

----------

"Asuka… She didn't come back after all." Misato said. She was sitting with Ritsuko and Kaji in the lounge. "The battle is tomorrow, but they're still not in harmony with each other. What a disaster. Maybe we should just go with Shinji and Rei. Sure is risky though."

"Shall we do a run-up for Rei and Unit-00?" Ritsuko asked her.

"No." Kaji said. "It's still too early for that. One more night. Sometimes that's all it takes."

----------

'So, she's not coming back…?' Shinji thought to himself. 'I wonder were she went. Oh well… If her mind is so fragile as to be crushed by my words I guess she's of no use then… fighting's gonna be a pain, though… Maybe I went a little too far…? Then again, if I can piss her off enough to want to prove me wrong on everything, then I guess it was worth it…' His musing was cut to a halt as Asuka walked into the room.

"Soryu…?" he asked her, sitting up on his bed.

"Hmph…" she said and turned to look at him. "You think you can just _say_ things to me?"

'Oh crap… Don't tell me I ended up doing to her what I did to Ayanami!'

"There!" she shouted and jumped up to smash the speaker hanging from the roof. Upon smashing into the ground, it was revealed to be a hidden camera.

'So she found it?' Shinji thought.

"What are you trying to do!" Shinji said frantically, expertly playing his part.

"Isn't it _obvious_? Training."

----------

"Huh?" Misato shouted in the surveillance room as her screen went dark. "What's with this? It suddenly lost visual. I'm going to check on them."

"Now wait." Kaji said. "Let's leave them alone… It would just be awkward if you went up there and…"

"What! You act like you know what the hell they're up to!" She shouted.

"Don't make such a scary face!" Kaji told her and grabbed her. "We can _enjoy_ ourselves here… We're all alone you know."

"N…" Misato tried to protest. As Kaji slowly lowered his face to hers, she countered with a swift slap to the face.

"That hurt." He told her.

"It was supposed to!" she said and walked away towards the now-useless monitor. "What makes you think I've forgiven you?"

----------

"So… training is it?" Shinji asked Asuka as he stood up to face her.

"Of course! There's no way I'm letting you show me up again! If I run, I'll never become the best!"

"I see…"

"Yes! All you are…" she said, poking him in the chest with her finger. "Is another obstacle in my way to become the best!"

"Good job!" he congratulated her.

"What…?"

"You did figure it out! Now I'm impressed. It's exactly as you say. If you can prove me wrong, then you will be the best. Come on, let's get to work."

"Uh… right…"

"Okay, we'll do something a little different. No dancing, we don't have the time for it."

"What then?"

"Try this, at the count of three, I'm going to raise either one of my arms, you do the same. There's a fifty-fifty chance you'll lift the same one, right? So, statistically speaking, out of a hundred times, we'll lift the same arm fifty times. We'll keep going until we choose the same arm five-hundred times in a row."

"How is this going to help?"

"This should be impossible, right? But, if we actually do synchronize, we can just instinctually raise one arm and, since we'll be thinking the same, it'll be the same one as the other person, get it?"

"Yeah… somehow, that makes sense…"

Four hours later, Shinji raised his left arm, as did Asuka.

"Alright. That makes five-hundred." He said. "Now to the next part."

"There's more!" Asuka complained. "My arms are starting to go numb!"

"Stop complaining. This one will be a little harder." He held up his hand. "We have ten fingers each, from the right pinky, number them one through ten in your mind, alright? Now, close both fists and hold them both up towards me. There won't be anymore counting from now on. We should be at least partially in sync by now, so it won't be impossible."

"Why couldn't we have done this from the start!"

"You had to figure out the purpose behind the training yourself. Otherwise, it wouldn't work."

"Ugh… fine, what are we doing this time…?"

"Like I said, since we have ten fingers each, there's a ten-percent chance of guessing right. Not only that, but there won't be a cue as to when to lift a finger. Just imagine in your mind when you think I would do it, then throw out the same one. This time, we'll keep going until we hit ten-thousand in a row."

"Ten-thousand!"

"Yes. Now, we don't have much time so let's start."

----------

"Targets have passed the Goura absolute defense line!" the report arrived. "Currently on a mountain course towards Tokyo-3! Targets have entered point zero!"

"Damn! Three hours earlier than the Magi expected…" Misato said. "What about the Eva's?"

"We're prepared for launch." Maya said, "but the pilots are still…"

"Damn!" Misato shouted as she ran down the corridor. "What the hell are they _doing_? Shinji! Asuka! Time for battle, are you -- GACK!" She shouted as she saw them both sleeping on the ground.

"Why are you still sleeping!" She shouted as she picked them up off the floor. "Didn't you hear the alarm! C'mon, change into your plug suits."

"Sleeeepy…" Asuka complained as she was dragged behind Misato.

"Please! You have _got_ to get up!" She begged.

"Passage clear. All green. Eva Units-01 and -02 ready for launch."

"Arggh!" Misato shouted back on the bridge. "This is _doomed_. There wasn't time for _any_ last-minute practice!

"It's okay Misato, don't worry. Our unison is already perfect." Asuka reassured her.

"What!" Misato asked. At her words, both Shinji and Asuka raised their right hands towards the monitor at the same time. They both closed their fists and proceeded to throw out twenty random combinations of the five digits in a space of about ten seconds.

"What…?" Misato said, not understanding what they had just done.

"Just trust us, Misato." Shinji said as the two units were launched.

"Purge external power source!" was shouted as the two reached the surface. The catapult tossed them up into the air, several hundred meters above their opponents.

"Start the music!" Misato commanded as the battle begun. The two Evas, having reached the end of their upward trek, angled downward towards both halves of the angels leading with their right knees into their mask.

"Wow! Perfect harmony!" Misato commented.

"This looks good!" Ritsuko added.

As two rifles appeared, both grabbed them, and turned facing forward, opening fire at the same time. Taking long range fire, the angels responded in kind, firing twin lasers from their faces at their enemy.

The two who were fired upon somersaulted backwards, avoiding the beam by simultaneously stepping on a switch to raise a hidden shield. Taking a rifle each from behind the barricade, they dodged towards the sides and fired again.

The angels, however, anticipating this course of action, leapt forwards and sliced through the shield.

"Cover fire! Full barrage!" Misato shouted as the two Evas staggered backward.

As the smoke from the missile onslaught began to clear Asuka yelled out "Shinji!"

"Got it!" he answered her.

They ran towards their enemy and once again took to the sky. Somersaulting forward to gain momentum, they extended their bodies while inverted, twisted around to redirect that momentum, and angled forward with their right heel aimed towards their foes. As the distance between the four combatants dissipated, the feet of both Evas connected solidly with their opponents. The red hit the core, the purple in the face. As they jumped backwards with their final dregs of power, Shinji was heard shouting "Damn it! I missed!"

The enemies were launched backward by the powerful strikes and, while damaged, were already regenerating.

"Hurry!" Misato shouted. "Get to the umbilical cables!"

As the two ran towards them, the angels saw their enemies' objective and obliterated it with a well placed laser blast.

"Both units have gone completely silent!" the command center was shocked into paralysis as the situation was announced.

"Can we sent out Unit-00!" Misato demanded.

"No!" Ritsuko answered. "It is currently under repair and is completely immobile!"

"My god…"

"What!" Misato shouted as Unit-01 stood again. "What's going on!" She demanded. Her answer, however, soon became clear.

As the great purple behemoth stood, it roared out in defiance against its enemies.

"It's gone berserk!" Ritsuko shouted.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted into the intercom.

"I… will not… be defeated… again…" they heard his voice. What shocked them, was the low, almost feral growl in which the words were delivered. The beast roared again as communications were cut.

It charged forward in a mad rush and struck one of the halves, sending it flying backward into a building.

The second rushed forward and stuck in the same way it shredded the barrier earlier. The purple leviathan raised a single arm to block the attack, the blades cut deep into its arm, but not through. Its pulled its arm back, dislodging the angel and, reaching forward, the angel's mask-like face was grabbed from both sides. Placing a massive foot on the angels chest,it unleashed a mighty roar, tore the face from its enemy's body.

The first, having recovered, sliced into both sides of the Eva's neck. As blood spurted from the would-be fatal wounds, the now blood-soaked titan smashed its head into the enemy behind it, bending the armor dangerously close to the entry plug.

As the two angels fell back to asses the situation, the dreadnaught which was Unit-01 walked forward, despite its various wounds which bled off gallons of pseudo-blood.

The two angels fired with their lasers at the one before them. The beams sliced though the oncoming enemy in the shoulder and stomach, but it would not be stopped.

It went from a slow walk into a full-on charge and, with both arms extended, buried its hands into the angels' torso, a blood-red core gripped in each.

The two struggled wildly to free themselves but, at a strange-sounding roar from Unit-01, they were calmed.

They stared into the demonic visage before them for several long seconds and, in unison, bowed their heads as their cores were crushed.

If it could be seen, the purple Evangelion seemed to nearly revel in the flames which engulfed it. Almost as if this blaze would cleanse its soul of the sins it had committed.

----------

"This situation was not foreseen." Kiel said.

"Yes… Unit-01 was not to go berserk for this encounter…" another answered.

"Ikari! You are to monitor the pilot more closely from now on." A third informed the commander of NERV.

"It seems that he is a greater threat than we at first suspected if he can do that at will."

"There is no need for concern." Gendo told the committee. "I have already placed a spy to keep a close eye on him."

"A spy?"

"Yes."

"This is acceptable. Do not forget that we shall hold you responsible if anything causes a problem with the scenario."

"I understand."

To be continued…

How was that? I know this part is supposed to be mostly meaningless comedy but, I thought this ending would work better with what I'm going to do later on. As for the hand-training thing… I don't know… I made it up on the spot so I wouldn't have to write about dancing anymore… umm… yeah… Oh and uh… it seems as though I'm going to have to switch over to the anime after this chapter because uh… my supply of the manga has kind of run out. No one out there would have any idea where I could find it online, do they? I was going to switch over eventually but I didn't want it to be this soon… Come to think of it, everything I can remember reading that was about this battle always had them win… It reminds me of in how in anime or video games when a character gains some crazy new power and completely destroys the opponent but in the next episode, however, it doesn't work anymore… how strange… Uh… if I missed anything or whatever then… just let me know. Review if you want… to live.

Later!


	8. Chapter 8

Ugh… now this one's gonna be hard… if I keep going with the manga, then I'll lose two angels… If I go with the anime, then each chapter is going to be an episode and I'll miss a few really crazy scenes from the manga… If I combine the two, then I'll confuse the hell out of myself… Now what the heck should I do…? Oh well… I'm sure I'll figure something out… maybe… Oh well… here's eight.

----------

As the blaze from the defeat of Israfel faded from the stricken land, the first unit stood in the midst of the clearing.

"My god…" Misato exclaimed as the beast came into sight. "What… what is he…?"

Silence again reigned as the Eva moved towards its fallen comrade.

"What is he… doing!" Misato said again as the purple one stood before the fallen one.

It reached downward and grabbed it. Lifting one arm and one leg, it raised the downed behemoth from the ground and placed it upon its shoulders. It walked forward again, and as it reached an emergency elevator, a voice rang throughout the command center which further shocked them all.

"Dammit! Would you open this thing already!" Shinji's voice sounded across the intercom. "Soryu is really, really heavy…! Hey! Pay attention in there or I'll step on you guys!"

"Ha ha ha…" Misato's relieved laughter cut across the tension in the room. "Okay, okay… just hold on a second…"

As those words were spoken, the huge wall blocking the way moved from his path. Placing Unit-02 on the ground, Shinji stood on it as the elevator moved downward.

As the two arrived at the cages, Asuka could be heard berating her fellow pilot.

"You idiot! How dare you step on my beloved unit-02 like that! I bet you missed on purpose so that you could take the glory, didn't you!" she shouted at him.

"Stepped on it! What the hell was I supposed to do! Those damn elevators were meant for only one unit at a time!" he yelled right back.

"Then why couldn't you act like a gentleman and let me go first!"

"Gentleman! Even if I was one, you're not a lady so it wouldn't have mattered either way!"

"How dare you!" she snapped and swung at him. "Stand still you bastard!" as she shouted, Shinji was deftly avoiding all her strikes.

'Heh… I guess there really is a plus side to being synchronized… I can't go on much longer though… Dammit! Why'd I have to do that…? Shit, if I can't find a way out of this… they're bound to find out…' Shinji thought to himself as he dodged.

"Shinji! What happened out there?" Ritsuko called out to him.

'All right!' "I'd… be glad to… tell you… if not for a… crazed fool trying to… knock me out…!" He called out to her.

"Asuka, stop trying to kill Shinji for a minute!" she shouted.

"Argh… fine, I'll get you for this, third child!" She muttered to him as he left.

"Whew! Thanks for the save, Ritsuko." Shinji told the doctor as they walked towards her lab. "The thing is that… cough… cough… cough…" His words were interrupted as he began coughing.

"Are you all…" she managed to ask as she saw him collapse on one knee and saw the blood leaking from behind the hand covering his mouth.

"Shinji! What's wrong!" She frantically asked.

"Rit… cough… suko… cough, cough… do you have it…?" he choked out.

"It? Oh yeah, it's right here!" she exclaimed and handed him a small box he had asked her to always carry for him before a battle. Grabbing it, he opened it up and pulled out a long-needled syringe. It rattled and shook in his hands so he handed it back saying "Use it!" while also pointing at a small jar.

As she took it, he pointed at his throat and muttered "behind …"

Placing it at his neck, she inserted it into the vein deep in his neck which transported blood to the brain instead of away from it like the jugular did, and emptied it.

A few more blood-filled coughs and rasping breaths later, Shinji straightened up.

"Ugh… thanks for that…" he told her.

"What… what the hell was that?" she questioned him as they began moving forward.

"Ugh… I never did tell you, did I?" he asked, that happens after every time…" he said as they walked into her office. "I'll tell you the details if you want."

As the door shut, a figure leaned against the darkened walls of a nearby corridor. "So, is that how it is?" they said to themselves. "I'm sure this small bit of information will be of some use…"

----------

"So that's how it works?" Ritsuko asked after he finished explaining the details.

"As far as I can figure, yeah… unfortunately enough, I can't use it at will." He told her.

"When can you, then?"

"I'm not entirely sure but, it seems as though I can call on it when I really need it so… yeah, that should be enough…"

"I see…"

"Oh, maybe I should tell you… You know the painkillers?"

"The ones you take, right? What about them?"

"They're to minimize the effects of this."

"Wait, then what about…?" she asked him while pointing at his chest.

"Well… they definitely helped in getting them all… but that's not the main reason…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah, well… I should get going then…"

"That reminds me! Have you heard the news?" she called out as he was leaving.

"About what?" he asked as he turned around.

"You mean you haven't?" she taunted.

"What the hell are you talking about!" he demanded.

"Oh, you'll see…" she teased him as she walked out past him. "Although… if you really want to know…" she said and turned around slightly, to find her office empty and no Shinji in sight. 'I am going to figure out how he does that if it kills him!' she muttered to herself as she left.

'He heh… they never look up…' Shinji muttered as he heard her leave. "Now what the hell was she talking about?"

----------

"What in the hell…?" Shinji muttered as he stood in front of his apartment. Or more specifically, at the stacked-up boxes by the door. "Did Misato get evicted …?"

'What's with all of the boxes…' he thought to himself as he slowly walked into the apartment. As he reached his room, he was greeted with the sight of those same boxes having completely overrun his room.

"What the hell is all this crap!" he shouted out.

"Don't be so rude!" a voice called out to him.

"Huh!" he felt his blood begin to chill as he recognized who it was.

"These are my personal belongings…" Asuka finished.

"You? But? Huh?" he stammered before shaking his head to clear his thoughts then saying, "what the hell are you doing in my house!"

"Why are you still here?" she asked.

"Still here!"

"Yeah, you've been dumped for the new model." She taunted.

"Huh…?"

"Misato will be living with me. Of course, that's a much more logical choice when you consider my superior abilities. Although honestly, I'd rather live with Kaji! ♥"

"Pervert…" he muttered under his breath.

"Say," she asked, obviously not having heard him. "Just why are Japanese houses so small anyway? I couldn't even get half my stuff in my new room! And Japanese sure don't have any sense of privacy… how can they live in a room without locks, unbelievable… it's weird…"

"The Japanese way is to consider the needs of others before ones own." Misato answered her.

"Misato!" She exclaimed.

"Misato!" Shinji shouted. "So I'm being replaced, huh? Well, good luck paying all the bills on your own again." He picked up the small box with the few belongings he possessed and started walking towards the door.

"No!" She shouted and ran to stop him. "You're not going anywhere! Do you have any idea how much easier life is when I don't have to worry about that!"

"Ha ha ha… fine, I'll stay… But just what in the heck is Soryu doing here, anyway?" He asked her.

"Uh… to tell the truth, Shinji, I'm just following orders. I got a call a telling me that she was moving in with us… I don't know any more than that…"

"Well… nothing we can do now, huh?"

"Unfortunately, I guess that seems to be the case…"

"Ugh… oh and make sure to get the mess out of my room, okay Misato?" he told her as he walked towards the couch.

"Why do I have to do it!" She shouted towards him.

"Hey, I don't care if it's you or Soryu; just get all those boxes out of there."

"Why that little…" Misato muttered.

"What was that?" he called out.

"Oh… um, nothing, Shinji! I'm gonna get to work!"

"Good."

"Hey, Asuka…" Misato called out as she walked towards the hallway.

----------

"What!" Asuka's scream resonated throughout the apartment. "Did you just say that I can't go on the school trip!"

"Yup." Misato answered her.

"Well, why not?" She demanded.

"It's part of your job." Misato informed her.

"You mean I'm on permanent standby?"

"You got it."

"What idiot decided that?"

'This one. The operation planning manager."

"Hmph… Shinji, why don't you stop sitting there like an idiot and talk some sense into this woman."

"Ugh… fine, I'll try?" He said as he looked up from his food. "Hey, Misato? Are you sure it's not alright to risk the fate of humanity just because she wants to have fun for a few days?"

"Uh… yeah, pretty sure…" Misato told him.

"What kind of attempt was that!" She demanded, clearly aware that any possible chance she could have had of going was now gone.

"Umm… a bad one?" he said as he went back to eating.

"You useless idiot!" She shouted.

"Absolutely. Then again, it's better than a perverted fool."

"Whose a fool!" She shouted.

"Oh! Did I stutter!"

As the argument began, Misato decided to grab another beer or ten because, as arguments went, this one was turning out to be particularly bad.

----------

"Ikari." A voice called out to Shinji as he was walking down a random corridor in NERV.

"Who the… oh, hey there Ayanami. What's up?" he said.

"Soryu demanded that we are to accompany her at the NERV pool."

"What the hell? Why?"

"I do not know. She was fairly loud about it, though…"

"Just how loud is 'fairly loud' anyway."

"Loud enough for your head to feel like this." She said and punched him in the back of the head. "When you hear her."

"Oww… yeah… I'd say that qualifies as fairly loud…"

"Shinji, what are you doing just lying there?" Asuka called out to him.

"Sleeping." He answered without opening his eyes.

"This is no place for a nap!" She shouted. "You should be swimming."

"I'd rather sleep." He told her.

"Oh? I think that maybe you're afraid of water, is that it?"

"Afraid of water? Why would I be? It just sort of lays there without doing anything. How scary is that?"

"That's not what I mean! You can't swim, can you!"

"What! Uhh… of course I can swim…"

"Right…" she said and walked over towards Rei.

'This can't be good…' Shinji thought to himself as he saw the two of them talking. Then, as they walked back towards him, 'Forget not good… This is really, really bad…'

"I think I should be going…" Shinji said and slowly backed away from them. "So if you'll excuse me…"

"Not this time, Shinji!" Asuka shouted as she lunged forward and grabbed his arm.

"You will not escape." Rei told him as she grabbed the other one.

"Ahh!" He shouted as they proceeded to drag him towards the pool.

"In you go!" Asuka exclaimed as they tossed him in.

"What the hell!" he shouted to them as his head broke the clear surface.

"So he can swim…" Asuka said.

"Yes." Rei replied. "Though I did not know that until now."

"Are you serious!" Asuka demanded.

"Yes, I am. Although throwing him in was completely your idea." Rei told her.

"Just great…" Shinji grumbled as he dragged himself out. "This was my favorite shirt, too…"

"Favorite shirt!" Asuka asked. "You always wear the same type of shirt! Every single day! Come to think of it, you wear the same thing everyday too, Rei!"

"It _is_ called a uniform." Shinji told her.

"As such, we _do_ have many different ones." Rei continued.

"So why is that one different!" Asuka demanded of him.

"I don't know… it just is I guess…" He replied.

As Shinji walked back to the chair he had previously occupied, he took off his outer shirt, leaving the darker short-sleeve t-shirt on.

"What happened!" Asuka exclaimed as she looked at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"She means your arms, Ikari." Rei told him.

"Oh this…?" he glanced at his arms. "It's just a few scars…"

"A few! Since when is that a few!"

"I could show you… but I doubt you could handle it."

"Are you stupid! Of course I can handle anything! Just show me already!"

"Yes, I am curious as well, Ikari."

"Fine… but you'd better not tell anyone!" he said and removed his lower shirt. As the shirt fell, so did the mouths of both girls. His chest was crisscrossed with an uncountable amount of scars. Some were long cuts, as if from surgery, some were healed bullet-holes, some were from knives or even sword slashes. All, however, were already old.

"How… how did they happen?" Rei asked him in an even quieter voice than normal.

"How? Heh, there's a different story for each one… they are all important though. All of these are reminders of battles that were not as easy to win as those that left no marks. They remind me of when I messed up and act as a reminder to avoid the mistakes I made which cost me as much as they did. Because it's one thing to die fighting and something altogether different to keep repeating the same damn mistakes over and over until they kill me anyway. As bad as they all seem, though, they do remind me that, despite all of the crap I've gone through… I'm still here. Still living and still able to gain a few new scars."

"I had no idea…" Asuka said.

"Nor I…" Rei added.

"Does it matter?" Shinji asked them.

"What do you mean if it matter! Of course it does!" Asuka shouted.

"Do you really think so? Am I any different now than I was five minutes ago? Is a shift in perspective the equivalent to a change in the person being observed?"

"Well… I guess not… but…"

"It bothers you, doesn't it?"

"No! That's not it…"

"Then don't worry about it. I won't let either of you two die, even at my own expense."

"Why do you insist on saying those things!" Rei demanded.

"It is simple." He said, smiling slightly at both girls sitting before him on the ground. "My reasons are my own but they're enough for me to give my life if it would was so required."

"So you're saying you'd kill yourself if that was an option!" Asuka demanded.

"That's exactly it." He answered.

"I refuse to accept that." Rei said.

"Me neither!" Asuka said.

"Then do you know the alternative?"

"The what?"

"What alternative?"

"If a situation ever arises, I'll let you know." He said and stood and put his shirt on.

"Just where do you think you're going!" Asuka demanded as she saw him leaving.

"I'm going to go change into swimming trunks. Both of you already threw me in so I might as well…"

----------

"What the hell is that thing!" Shinji demanded as the pilots along with Ritsuko and Maya crowded around a projection on the table between both groups. "It's like some weird fetusy-thing…"

"Ugh… that is an extremely creepy description." Asuka complained.

"Yes, it was." Rei said and, after punching him again, told him "please refrain from saying such things in the future."

'Geez, she's a violent one…' Asuka thought as she witnessed the strike.

"Well, if you're done messing around for now… That is an angel. It's some sort of chrysalis form that precedes the adult stage we're familiar with." Ritsuko told them. "This operation's prime objective will be to capture this angel. We must capture it alive and in as close to it's original state as possible."

"What the hell do you want with it?" Shinji asked.

"That is classified information, sorry Shinji." Maya told him. "In fact, even I don't know…"

"I see…" Asuka put in. "And if we fail?"

"Then you must destroy it immediately. Understood?"

"Roger."

"Definitely."

"Yawn…"

"The designated pilot will be…" Ritsuko pondered.

"Not it!" Shinji called out.

"Nor I." Rei added.

"I'll do it!" Asuka said, all three having spoken at the same time. "Wait a minute… why don't you two want to do it!"

"My Eva is still useless." Rei replied.

"And I'm damned lazy." Shinji said.

"Very well… You can do it then, Asuka." Ritsuko told her.

"Sure! It's gonna be easy!"

"And me…?" Rei asked.

"Well, since your Eva _is_ useless, I suppose you can go with the others."

----------

"Huh? This heat resistant entry plug suit doesn't seem any different from our regular ones."

"Just hold on a second and you'll see the difference." 'You're gonna owe me big-time for this, Shinji!' Ritsuko thought.

"Unit two should be ready by now…" She then told her.

"Noo! No way! How could you!" Asuka shouted as she saw her Eva. It was sitting on the ground and was wearing big white space-suit-like armor.

"This exo-suit is designed to protect you." Ritsuko said to her. "Type-D equipment is for combat under extreme environmental duress, not high fashion."

"Is that my unit-02? The poor thing…" Asuka lamented.

"Yeah… it does look like crap…" Shinji told her.

"Why you…!" Asuka began.

"Oh yes, before you do anything else," Ritsuko interrupted her. "Press the switch on you right wrist."

"Oh, okay." She said and did so, instantly regretting it.

"What!" She shouted as her suit began expanding. "What the hell is this!"

"Wahahahaha!" Shinji nearly fell over laughing. "You look like an idiot!"

"Ikari. While it is indeed humorous, there is no need to insult her in that way." Rei cut him off.

"Oh, I see…" Shinji muttered and discretely looked towards Ritsuko. She looked him in the eye and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Aha!" he shouted and grabbed her wrist. Pushing the button and making Rei expand in a similar way.

This time, Shinji was unable to remain standing. "Holy crap…" he gasped out. "You both look so impossibly stupid!"

"Is that so…?" Rei asked, standing right behind him after having figured out how to deflate her suit.

"I think he's serious…" Asuka joined her.

"Oh crap…" Shinji muttered as he was beaten into submission.

----------

"Eva units -01 and 02 have arrived." Misato was informed.

"Have both units stand-by. Reposition the laser bore and stand ready on the crane." She ordered.

"Roger." Makoto answered.

"I am so glad I'm not going in there…" Shinji said, peering over the edge of the cliff.

"Yes… it seems to be rather dangerous…" Rei answered him.

"Hey!" Asuka interjected. "Shouldn't you be doing it if it's that dangerous then?"

"There is a limit to my willingness to sacrifice myself and jumping into a volcano is probably pushing it just a little too far…" Shinji answered her.

"Hmph!" she replied as she left to board her Eva.

"What the hell? Is that the military?" Shinji asked, having boarded his Eva as well.

"The UN and the Air Force will be standing by." Ritsuko told him.

"Until this mission's over, anyway…" Maya added.

"Are they here to help us?" Asuka wondered.

"Yeah right…" Shinji said. "There probably here to bomb us to hell if we mess up…"

"What do you mean?" she asked

"They'll use N2 depth charges to destroy the angel and us as well." Ritsuko informed her.

"This job sucks!" Asuka shouted.

"Who's the bastard who ordered that!" Shinji demanded.

"Commander Ikari…" Ritsuko replied.

"I should have figured as much…" He muttered.

"Laser operation complete." Was announced as the mission commenced.

"Bore path has been secured."

"The type-D equipment is functioning normally."

"Unit-02 is ready and in position."

"Understood." Misato said. "Asuka, are you ready?"

"Ready when you are." She replied.

"Let's do it!" Misato shouted out.

"Oh man…! Talk about hot…" She complained as her descent began.

"It is a volcano." Shinji reminded her.

"Unit-02 is entering the lava." Maya reported.

"Current depth: 170." She informed the command center. "Rate of descent: 20. No problems detected. Visibility is zero. Can't see a thing… Switching to CT monitor. Even with this I can barely see a thing…"

"Depth is 400… 450… 500… 550… 600… 650…" Maya reported. "900… 950… 1000… 1050… we're over the maximum safety depth… Depth is 1300; unit has reached estimated target level."

"Asuka, what do you see?" Misato asked her.

"I'm not detecting anything." She told her. "It's not here."

"The lava currents must be faster than we thought…" Ritsuko said.

"The target's velocity certainly doesn't match our predictions…" Makoto confirmed her suspicions.

"Hurry up and re-calculate." Misato ordered. "Descend further… continue the operation…"

"Huh…?" Makoto asked.

"Depth is 1350… 1400…"

As the sound of something shattering reached Asuka, she was informed that the second coolant pipe had cracked.

"Depth is 1480… we have exceeded the maximum allowed depth…"

"But we haven't made contact with the target yet…" Misato told them. "Keep going. How's it going, Asuka?"

"Nice and toasty… I just want to finish this and take a shower." She said.

"There's a nice hot-spring near here. We'll go there once this is over. Just hang in there a little longer…"

"Maximum allowed depth plus 120."

"Eva unit-02 has lost its progressive knife." They said as the belt holding it to the unit's leg snapped.

"Maximum allowed depth plus 200!"

"Captain Katsuragi, you have to stop this!" Makoto yelled. "Have you forgotten that there's a human being in there!"

"I will manage this operation as I see fit." She told him "Continue to descend."

"I agree with Misato." Asuka said. "I'm okay. I can go on."

"Depth: 1780. Unit has reached the corrected target depth."

"Wait… I see it!" Asuka claimed.

"The target is in sight." Makoto reported.

"Prepare for capture."

"Because of the convection current moving both you and the target, you'll only get one chance." Ritsuko warned her.

"I understand. Leave it to me."

"30 meters to contact."

"Relative velocity: 2.2, on the axis."

As the unit reached the target, the large metal thing it was holding expanded and walls of light surrounded it.

"The electro-magnetic cage has been spread. No problems detected. The target has been captured." Asuka told them.

"Nice work Asuka." Misato told her.

"Sigh… the operation is completed." Asuka said. "I'm beginning my ascent."

"Hey, Asuka? You alright?" Shinji called out.

"Well of course I am. The only thing to fear is fear itself. This was easy." She claimed. "Man… this isn't an entry plug suit; it's a sauna bath… Oh… I just want to take a cold shower…"

"Sounds like the tension let loose all at once." Ritsuko said.

"Yeah." Misato replied.

"Were you scared about this operation? I sure was. Especially considering that Shinji said he'd throw us both in if we messed up…"

"He said that!"

"Well… probably…"

"It's going crazy!" Asuka shouted as the alarms began ringing.

"Oh no! It's starting to hatch! It's earlier than we predicted!" Ritsuko shouted.

"Cage status!" Misato demanded.

"There's no way it can handle this!"

"Abort the capture! Jettison the cage!" Misato ordered. "We're changing the operation; we have to destroy that angel. Unit-02, prepare for combat! Do it Asuka!"

"You got it!" She replied.

"Idiot! You don't have any weapons!" Shinji yelled out as he remembered hearing that she had lost her knife.

"Here, catch!" He called out as he threw his progressive knife into the magma. 'Sure hope it doesn't melt on the way…'

"It's too fast!" Asuka yelled as she barely avoided an attack.

"Go away!" She shouted as the angel charged at her again. "Hurry up with that thing!"

As the knife reached her claws, the sheath released itself. As Asuka struck the angel with her blade, sparks shot out, but no damage was inflicted. It wrapped itself around her and bit at her head.

"No! How could it open its mouth in molten lava!" Ritsuko demanded.

"It's not working!" Asuka shouted out as the knife seemed to have no effect on the target.

"Oh my god!" Ritsuko shouted out as she realized the problem. "The extreme heat has distended that thing's molecular structure! The prog knife won't work against it!"

"What!" Makoto shouted out as he heard her. "Then what do we do?"

"Asuka! Shove one of your coolant pipes into its mouth!"

As she sliced into the one of the pipes headed into her Eva, she forced it into the attacking angel's mouth, causing it to expand and contract with the sudden temperature changes.

"Of course!" Ritsuko shouted out. "Thermal expansion!"

"Transfer all the internal coolant pressure to cable number three. Do it!"

"Argh!" She shouted as she drove her knife into its head once more. Cutting into and causing the destruction of the angel but not fast enough to avoid its last attack. Its claws grabbed onto and sliced through most of the cables which supported her.

"I've done it but…" She said as she saw the angel disintegrate and the type-D armor begin to compress. "That's it… I'm done for…"

As the strands of the final cable snapped and her Eva began its slow descent to oblivion, Asuka looked on in despair as her life seemed to draw to a close. She fell for all of three seconds before she was jolted to a stop.

"Huh!" She exclaimed, not quite sure what had just happened until she glanced upward. The demonic face of Unit-01 looked down at her as it held onto her arm.

"I guess I really am stupid enough to jump into a volcano, huh?"

"Idiot…" She said softly. "You showoff…""

----------

"Hello?" A voice called out at the entrance to the best hot-springs in the nearby town. "Are the people from NERV here, somewhere…?"

"Who the hell are you!" Shinji demanded as he walked towards the entrance.

"I uh… need your signature here…" the flustered delivery dude said.

"Hmph…"

"Uh thanks…" they muttered as they left him with a large package.

"From Kaji? What the heck is this?" Shinji thought to himself right before the package exploded and the contents flew out.

"Wark War!" PenPen warked out as he frantically looked around.

"Heh… Hot-springs? Over there." He told him, pointing to the side.

"Shinji!" Misato called out. "Let's go into the hot-springs!"

"Go right ahead…" he told her. "I'd rather sleep."

"Yeah right…" Asuka interrupted. "That's just a convenient excuse so you can peek on us!"

"If you say so…" he muttered as he yawned. "Pervert." He called out as he slid the door to his room shut.

----------

"Hey, PenPen?" Misato called out to him. "Do you think you could go check in on Shinji?"

"Wark warwarwark war!" the penguin frantically shouted back before diving underwater.

"What was that about?" Asuka asked her as she witnessed the penguin's odd behavior.

"Oh yeah… Now I remember…" Misato said.

"Remember what?"

"Well… a few days after Shinji moved in with me, I asked PenPen to go wake him up. I didn't think anything of it, but what I didn't realize, was that Shinji isn't particularly trusting when he's asleep."

"What happened?"

"With what I gathered from PenPen's traumatized state, it seems that as he tried waking him up, Shinji nearly took his head off with a knife."

"What the hell?"

"Yeah… PenPen's lucky he's short otherwise, he wouldn't be around anymore… After that, I learned not to be within a five-foot radius when he's sleeping."

"Geez… what a freak…" Asuka exclaimed.

"Do you have any idea what it was that caused him to act in that manner?" Rei asked her.

"You mean _you _don't know!" Asuka turned towards her.

"Yeah, Rei. I would have though that out of everyone, he'd have at least told you." Misato added.

"No he has not. I have never asked him before." Rei told them.

"Come to think of it, what is up with you two?" Asuka then demanded of her.

"What is up?" She replied, not really understanding.

"Yeah, Rei…" Misato taunted. "It seems he's the closest to you out of anyone…"

"So are you going to tell us or what!" Asuka asked.

"There is nothing to tell. The only facet of our relationship is what is visible."

"What the hell does that mean!" Asuka said, confused at her choice of words.

"Just give it up…" Misato counseled. "If she's learned from Shinji, there's no way we'll figure it out…"

"But I want to know!" Asuka whined.

"Why do you not try asking him, then…?" Rei questioned.

"Ugh… I don't know… it's just kind of… weird to walk up to him and ask him something like that..." Asuka muttered. "So you're saying you don't know anything about him?"

"No, that is not the case. I am aware as to small portions of his background but he has asked me to remain silent about it."

"And you, Misato? Shouldn't you know these things!"

"You'd think so, huh? Unfortunately, it seems all of his records are false."

"What!"

"Yeah. I don't know any more than you do… but, I think that the secrets he keeps are for a reason. Maybe we shouldn't pry, you know? We might not find anything pleasant if we look too deeply…"

"Well… I guess you're right…"

"It does not matter." Rei told her.

"What?" they both asked.

"Despite the fact that he will not divulge his past with us, he has informed me that his desire to protect us is genuine and we need not look for a motive…" she continued.

"Yeah… that sounds like something he'd say…" Misato said.

"What an idiot…" Asuka added.

"Definitely." Rei said.

To be continued…

Man this was hard… it probably doesn't seem to be the case since I didn't take too long to finish but… from the day of my last posting, I've been working on this non-stop. Why? Well, why the hell not…? As hard as it was to actually get done… I think it was worth it. I'm not so sure if it's any good but, I think that I wish not to think of volcano diving again… for the rest of today… What the hell? Oh, who cares…? I'm getting delusional anyway… need sleep… I guess that's it then… Review!7

Later!


	9. Chapter 9

Man… these author's notes things are getting harder to write… I'm seriously running out of things to say… Hmm… something… yeah, that's not very… interesting… I wonder though… why do I keep writing if I'm completely blanked out right now? Oh well, that's enough I think… Here's nine.

----------

"So how does it feel being back in Unit-01, Rei?" Ritsuko asked her. It was several days after the battle with the last angel and Rei was currently in the middle of a sync test.

"There are no problems." She replied.

"Like last time, her sync rate is similar as in Unit-00." Ritsuko told the commander.

"Unit's 00 and 01 have always had similar persona patterns. This means we can implement the plan soon…" he said. "Reverse-check the sync using the Unit-01 pilot in Unit-00. I'll leave it to you."

"Yes, sir." She replied as he left the room.

"The dummy system? Dr. Akagi, I don't want to be blunt but…" Maya told her.

"I know you don't like the idea. In truth neither do I, but… we need to be prepared for the possibility… this could very well mean our survival."

"Doctor Akagi?" Rei called out to her.

"Yes, what is it Rei?" Ritsuko answered.

"How long is this test going to take?"

"Why? Do you have anything to do after this?"

"No I do not but, it is cold in here."

"Didn't you say there weren't any problems?"

"There's nothing wrong with the temperature, doctor." Maya reported as she looked at the readings.

"Are you sure, Rei?"

"Yes. Although it doesn't seem to be a physical coldness. It's more of a sense of complete solitude…"

"Hmm… I wonder what that could mean…?"

"There is also something else." She then told her.

"Like what?" Ritsuko questioned.

"It's a sort of though in the back of my mind. It almost like when Ikari partially insults me and I haven't quite figured out what he meant by it yet…"

"Oh, then it could just be an imprint of the pilot. There's nothing to worry about. Let's just keep going."

"An imprint?" She asked.

"It's nothing, just forget about it for now."

----------

"'Old flames blazing anew'… yeah right…" Asuka grumbled as she sat in her seat at school. Misato and Kaji had gotten drunk the night before and, when Asuka had walked in on them, were about to kiss. This, obviously, infuriated her and her bad mood had not dissipated yet.

"Who's an old fart?" Shinji asked as he overheard her on his trek out of the room.

"Shut up!" She shouted. "It's far above your clearance level!"

"Hmm… no wonder _you_ can't figure it out, then." He retorted.

"Just shut up already!"

"Fine, fine… but if you do have gas problems, there is medicine for that you know."

"I wasn't talking about farts!" she yelled at him.

"Ha ha… nice one!" Toji commented to him as he walked towards the door.

"I'm starving, yo! How 'bout some okonomiyaki!" he asked his sidekick as he walked into someone. "Yow!"

"Where do you think you're going? You guys have clean-up duty!" the freckled, pig-tailed, class representative also known as Hikari demanded of them.

"Why bother? It's clean enough." Toji complained.

"Yeah! It's fine!" the sidekick added.

"That's not how we do things here in class 2-A!" She yelled until she noticed Shinji standing by. "Oh, Ikari! It's okay, _you_ can go home."

"Just take _this_." She then told him as she handed him a stack of papers. "It's all the handouts… the teacher wants Ayanami to get them."

"Oh… okay I guess…" Shinji said. "Well, later then Toji, sidekick…"

"Did… did he just call me 'sidekick?'" Kensuke asked as Shinji left.

"Yeah… I think he did…" Toji told him.

"Stop standing around and get to work, Suzuhara! You too, Sidekick!"

"Why am I a sidekick…?" The sidekick lamented.

----------

'Hey, so I did remember where this place was…' Shinji thought to himself as he arrived at the huge apartment complex Rei resided in. 'I haven't been here since… well… then…' Stopping for a second to clear his mind of unwanted thoughts, he continued the long trek up the stairs. 'Damn… so… many… steps… How the hell does Ayanami do this everyday…?'

As he reached the door to her apartment again, he pressed the small button before him. 'Still broken…' he though and knocked on the door, "Ayanami? Are you here?" he called out.

Waiting a few seconds, he was surprised as the door opened.

"What do you want?" A sleepy Rei asked him.

"Oh… uh, sorry. Were you sleeping?" he asked her.

"The restart test took all evening." She told him.

"So Unit-00 is fixed, then? That's good for you, then."

"Yes…"

"Here…" he told her as he handed her the papers he was given. "These are all the handouts from school… not that I ever do them but… oh well. Get some rest, I'll see you later… Sorry I woke you up."

As he was walking away she called out to him, "Why don't you come in for a while?"

"Oh… alright…" he answered and followed her in.

"Holy…" Shinji muttered as he saw her apartment. "This is… wow…"

The room was not even remotely similar to the apartment he had visited before. There was a huge, comfortable-looking bed in place of her old one. The checkered-tiled floor was completely covered by a gigantic plush carpet, as well as a book-case with at least a solid hundred books on it. The final, and most impressive addition, was the television on the wall which was far larger than Shinji.

"So… you really changed the place a bit, huh?"

"Yes." She replied. "I have been receiving an incredibly large sum of money from NERV. It seemed appropriate to furnish my room with my earnings. Which does remind me, if I am being paid that amount and I have only piloted in battle twice, just how much money are you getting since you have defeated three of the angels?"

"How much?" he asked her. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes." She replied. "Otherwise I wouldn't have asked."

"Hmm… the best way I can put this is by telling you that NERV's operating costs have quadrupled and the amount you receive is about a half percent of the old budget."

"Are you serious!"

"Definitely… assuming I survive the angels, though."

"So, financially, you no longer have a reason to pilot?"

"Well… I suppose not, but if I don't pilot, the world's gonna end and that would really suck."

"I… I see…"

"Don't worry… I forget about the giant bio-mechanical machines we have to pilot in combat to the death against even gianter abominations, which some idiot decided to call angels, whose sole purpose is the eradication of the human race and the end of all life on earth, every once in a while too.."

"Moron." She said and punched him in the face.

"Do you want some tea?" She asked his fallen form.

"Uh, yeah… okay." He answered as he lay on the carpet. 'Man… seeing Ayanami just standing in her kitchen is really weird…'

"How many tea leaves do you use to make tea?" She wondered to herself a little too loudly.

"What the hell! You don't even know how to make tea!" He yelled towards her. "What kind of moron offers tea without even knowing how to make it! Gah!" he then shouted out as he rolled across the floor to avoid the knife she had thrown at him.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing those kinds of things! That could have hit me!"

"I missed…" she replied.

'Holy crap! She's getting worse!' "So, you want some help?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Well, I have tea here but I've never made it before…"

"Come on, it can't be that hard can it?" he asked as he took the small package.

"Wow…" Shinji muttered five minutes after attempting to make the tea himself. "I had no idea water could ignite that way…"

"I thought you said it wasn't hard?" she asked. "I'm glad I don't have to rely on you for food…"

"Yeah well… that's what microwaves and canned drinks are for." He informed her. "Who needs cooking skill when pushing a few buttons is a whole lot easier…?"

"Assuming you could even do that…" She muttered.

"Hey! You want me to show you my elite button pushing abilities, then!" he demanded.

"NO... no, that won't be necessary…" She replied quickly. 'I like that microwave…'

"Anyway…" Shinji continued as he walked back out into the main room. "This place seemed pretty messed up the first time I came here… Must have been drafty and with a whole lot of bugs all over the place, huh?"

"No." She replied. "The walls are very solid, probably soundproof… And as for bugs, I made sure to get rid of all of them…"

"All right." He said, the playful pretense dropped. He walked over to her and started whispering to her. Rei, for her part, replied in the same low tone, occasionally nodding or shaking her head.

"Do you understand…" he asked her.

"Yes, I know exactly what to do."

"Make sure of it, otherwise we could end up dead."

As she nodded in reply, Shinji closed the small gap between them and seemed to be hugging her. He pulled a narrow silver tube from his pocket, placed it at her neck, and pressed the small button at the top.

"Goodnight, Ayanami." He said as she passed out in his arms.

----------

"Have a nice day, kids!" Misato called out to them as they left to school.

"Later…" Asuka muttered.

"You sound like a mom when you say that." Shinji added.

"Ha ha…" Misato laughed at his comment. 'I guess Asuka's still upset over the other night… A mom, huh?'

"Hey, Shinji…where are you going? That's the wrong way." Asuka told him as she realized he was walking in a different direction.

"I got somewhere to be." He told her.

"Fine. Do what you want." She responded.

"Try not to miss me too much!" he called out once he was a safe distance away.

"Why you!" She shouted as he ran off.

----------

'So this is where she's supposed to be…' Shinji thought to himself as he stood before her grave. 'My… mother…'

"I thought you'd be here." A voice called out to him.

"Huh…?" Shinji muttered as he turned towards the source. "You!"

"Glad to see you still remember." The man answered. He was not old, perhaps twenty at most, and wore a dark suit. His hair was short and black while his eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses.

"You're still alive?" Shinji asked him.

"Ha ha ha… of course I am… I'm not so weak as to be killed off by…" the man's tone hardened as he said, "you."

"…"

"I've seen some strange things…" he continued. "It seems as though you're getting soft…"

"Soft or not, there is still no way you can beat me."

"Is that so…" in a heartbeat, he stood before Shinji, a knife pressed against his throat. "You are getting weak… the old you would have killed me if I ever tried that."

"Don't be so sure I still won't." Shinji said, standing behind him, the same knife now at the base of the man's skull.

"What do you want from me?" Shinji demanded of him.

"Heh heh… Nothing. I just came to give an old friend a warning."

"Oh? And that would be…?"

"They know you're still alive. It's only a matter of time before they figure out who you are."

"So they figured it out?" he asked, backing off.

"Yes. You could still go back, you know." The man turned to face him.

"No. All the solitude, death, everything… I'm tired of it… I won't."

"How pathetic… I remember you killed one of ours for spouting off the same lines… and here you are saying them yourself."

"Perhaps…"

"How long do you think you can keep playing around? Time's running out."

"That is not your concern. I do what I want when I feel like it."

"So why are you still following orders?"

"…"

"Fine. It's none of my concern. I just hope your little 'family' never figures out what you are."

"Which side are you working?" Shinji asked him, ignoring his previous comment.

"Ha ha… there's so many to choose from, but… As I've told you before, I'm with you to the end."

"… Do you have any idea what you're getting into?"

"Of course… I'm sure you'd have the other's support as well."

"They're still around?"

"Come on! Give us a little credit here… you know as well as I do that getting rid of them is something even _you_ couldn't do."

"All of them?"

"Every single one."

"Are they willing to help?"

"It would be harder to keep them from helping."

"Ha ha ha… That's not surprising…"

"What do you want us to do…?"

"For now, just stand back, I'll call you when I need you."

"Of course." The man bowed, when he looked up, Shinji was already gone. 'One of these days I'm gonna figure out how he does that…'

----------

"What the hell!" Shinji shouted at Misato from the briefing room. He had just been informed of the plan drawn up to combat the angel and he seemed to… disagree somewhat. "Are we seriously supposed to catch that huge ass thing!"

"Yes, Shinji…" she muttered in reply.

"Are you crazy! There's no way in hell that's possible!"

"Sigh… Rei?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am." She replied. She walked towards Shinji, stepped past him with one leg behind his and shoved forward with her right arm, driving the back of his head into the ground.

"Thank you, Rei." She told her.

"So… how are we supposed to do this, Misato?" Asuka asked, not really wanting to yell after witnessing what had happened to Shinji.

"Can one of you two tell him what were doing when he regains consciousness?"

"Fine…" Asuka muttered. "So?"

"We're going to place the Eva's in the estimated drop zone, and then you just have to catch it before it hits the ground."

"What if it doesn't fall where you think it will?"

"Then there will be a little boom."

"And if the Eva's can't handle it?"

"They'll all be blown to the moon."

"Sounds great…" Shinji muttered as he lifted himself up.

"What the…? I thought for sure that one would have kept you down for at least five minutes…" Misato said.

"No way… maybe if you dropped a truck or something on my head…"

"I will try that next time, then." Rei said.

"Uh… yeah… So anyway, what are the chances of us succeeding?"

"I have no idea… probably really bad, though…"

"If we pull this off, it'll be a miracle…" Asuka muttered.

"I'm sorry but, this is our only chance…"

"How can you call something this crazy a plan!" She demanded.

"I guess I can't really…" She admitted. "You can refuse to do it, if you wish…" she said.

"That's an even worse suggestion than the first." Shinji added.

"I see… So are you three okay with it?"

"No way in hell." Shinji said.

"It seems stupid." Asuka added.

"I have no wish to be flattened." Rei put in.

"So I guess we have to come up with something else…" Misato said.

"Don't be stupid." Shinji told her. "None of us have said we won't do it."

"Okay then… Well, NERV regulations state the three of you have to write out a will, have you done that yet?" She asked them.

"I don't need to write one." Asuka stated. "Because I'm not going to die."

"Neither am I." Rei added.

"Yeah, no way." Shinji said. "Besides, it would be more interesting to watch you and PenPen fight over my vast fortune!"

"Vast fortune… yeah right…" Asuka taunted. "You're as poor as the rest of us."

"Does she not know?" Rei asked Shinji.

"Ha ha ha… I suppose not…"

"Know what! What are you talking about!"

"Okay then." Misato told them as she ignored Asuka. "But when this is all over, I'll treat you guys to a steak dinner!"

"A steak dinner!" Asuka asked, forgetting that which Shinji and Rei were keeping from her.

"Yup." She confirmed.

"Wow…" Shinji exclaimed, trying his best to sound as though he cared. 'What the hell?'

"You won't forget, right?" Asuka demanded.

"I swear I won't." She promised.

"A steak dinner is supposed to be impressive…?" Shinji wondered as Misato left.

"Does she really think we'd go crazy over a single steak dinner…?" Asuka complained.

"Maybe it is because that is the most expensive thing she can afford…" Rei told them.

"Well… seeing it that way, it's a bit more than I can afford…" Asuka admitted.

"I think I could probably scrounge up enough money to pay for that…" Shinji said. 'Man… I probably have way more than that forgotten in the pockets of my other pants…' he thought afterwards.

"Come to think of it… Just why do you claim to have so much money!" Asuka shouted as she remembered his comment about his 'vast fortune'.

"Hmm…" Shinji muttered to himself loudly. "Perhaps you should know… it all began in 1926…"

"What did?" She asked, confused at the sudden forced flashback.

"Heck if I know… Something's bound to have happened back then though, right?" He asked her.

"So how did you do that earlier?" Asuka turned to Rei.

"Like this." She told her and demonstrated.

"Argh!" he shouted out as he was slammed backwards again.

"Let me try…" Asuka muttered as she lifted Shinji. "I think I got it…"

"Ugh…" Shinji moaned out as his head slammed into the steel floor again.

"That's the last time I buy you a fighting game, Ayanami!" He shouted out as he rolled over to cradle his injured head.

"Just shut up already." She commanded and stomped on the back of his head, slamming his face into the ground. "Just stay quiet from now on and I won't have to hurt you… much." She counseled him as she ground her heel into his skull.

'Man… I'd better not annoy her too much… it might be me on the floor next time…' Asuka thought.

----------

"The angel's ECS jamming has caused us to lose track of it again." Misato was informed.

"Since it's impossible to calculate the exact location, the magi have created a probable drop-zone radius from the little data we've collected. This is it." She told them as she motioned towards the mostly highlighted map of Tokyo-3.

"That's a huge area to cover!" Asuka complained.

"Probable drop zone?" Shinji asked. "It seems as though the Magi had no idea either so they decided to choose the entire area…"

"Given the side of the target, a hit on any part of the orange map could wipe NERV out completely." Ritsuko added.

"So, well disperse the Evas to these three points." Misato told them.

"What is the dispersal based on?" Rei asked.

"A guess!" Misato announced.

"We're doomed." Shinji claimed. "I'd be safer playing Russian Roulette that trusting Misato's instincts…"

"It's women's intuition!" She informed him.

"She plays those little scratching-lottery-things a lot." Shinji told Asuka. "She has never won anything…"

----------

"The target has been sighted!"

"Distance approximately twenty-five thousand."

"The falling angel's been sighted!" Misato announced. "All Eva's get on your marks!"

As she commanded, the three Units took to one knee, preparing to sprint once they knew where the angel would fall.

"The Magi will guide you until you are within ten-thousand meters from the target, after that, you're on your own." Misato told the three pilots. "Begin the operation."

"Right…" Shinji muttered. "Move out!" He shouted as the power cable detached itself from him. At his order, the three began a mad sprint toward the enemy. Across rivers, through city streets, even over whole hills which were easily jumped across by the three great beasts. It was the newly repainted black Unit which, upon reaching even terrain in the last sprint towards its target, became a dark blur as it rocketed trough the streets, its long black cloak trailing it like a shadow. It was that very one which was the first to stand beneath its descending enemy.

"You bastard!" Shinji shouted out as the angel made contact with his outstretched hands.

"No way … Asuka's Eva is heavier than this…" he then muttered as the weight of what he carried began overwhelming him. The surge of power from the angel's A.T. field, contrasting against the small yet powerful fields unconsciously formed on the black Unit's hands caused a blast of wind from the two clashing powers to crush the surrounding area.

"Unit two, expand your field!" Rei commanded Asuka as they reached the target site.

"I'm already doing it!" She responded.

"As the blue and red ones stood by the black one the combined strength of the three behemoths was enough to counter the crushing force of the angel's fall.

"Do it!" Shinji shouted out as he regained his footing.

As the blue Unit-00 slashed open the angel's A.T. field, the red Unit-02 lunged forward and pierced the angel's core with her knife.

As the angel died, the crushing force of its A.T. field vanished and it fell towards the three below it again.

This time, as the first Unit grabbed it again, it tossed it upwards; the full weight of its colossus might brought to bear.

As the angel's body was flung upward several dozens of meters, Shinji yelled out to the other two, "Run you idiots!" as he himself ran from it.

They cleared out from beneath it and were in the process of running the hell away, when it detonated.

The force of the blast sent them flying forward, as well as obliterating the hill on which they had recently stood.

----------

"Heh heh heh…" Asuka laughed as she stood before Misato.

"Our wireless communication has been restored." Misato was then told. "We're receiving communication from commander Ikari in Antarctica."

"Connect him please…" Misato requested.

"Yes ma'am." They agreed and a small window labeled 'Sound Only' opened to the side.

"I apologize, sir." She began. "Because of my irresponsible judgment, Unit-01 has incurred some damage. I take full responsibility sir."

"No, destroying angels is an Eva's purpose. It was fortunate that the amount of damage made was minimal." Commander Fuyutsuki's voice came over the line.

"Excellent work, major Katsuragi." commander Ikari added.

"Thank you commander." She replied.

"And on that subject, is the pilot of Unit-01 there?" he asked.

"Tell him I'm not here." He told Misato loud enough to be heard by the commander. "I doubt he'd have anything interesting to say anyway." He then added as he walked out of the bridge.

"Umm… I'm afraid he's gone…" Misato told him.

"I see…" he replied. "Very well, I will leave the rest of this matter in your hands, Katsuragi."

"Yes, sir." She replied.

----------

"So, now you're going to have to fulfill your promise!" Asuka told Misato as they rode the train.

"Well of course I will…" Misato claimed. "I went and pulled out some large bills from my account so I could cover everything." 'Of course, I'm broke now…'

----------

"A Ramen place?" She asked incredulously as they stood before their destination.

"Yeah well… It was all Shinji's idea… I wanted a steak, but Shinji here claimed that the taste of a good bowl of Ramen couldn't be matched…" Asuka recounted their argument in the elevator towards the Eva units to Misato.

"And you agreed to it?" Misato questioned.

"Not right away. We all voted for it and apparently, Rei here agreed with him. That and he promised to pay the bill if we all went."

"Really?" Misato exclaimed, turning towards Shinji.

"Yeah, yeah… let's just eat…" he said as he sat down.

"I'll have one garlic Ramen with no roast pork." Rei ordered.

"I'll have shark's fin Ramen with roast pork." Asuka told the guy.

"I'll pay you ten times whatever the bill is if you can make it spicier than I can handle!" Shinji challenged the Ramen-guy as he placed his order.

"Is that so?" Ramen guy accepted.

"Try this!" he said as he placed the bowl before Shinji.

"Good… But for little kids…" Shinji muttered as he downed the whole bowl in one shot.

"Try this one then!" Ramen-guy said as he placed another.

"Still not good enough…" Shinji commented.

"That's it!" Ramen-guy shouted as he proceeded to make a likely-lethal bowl of Ramen. Heavily infused with the essence of spiciness itself, the smell alone was far more than most could even handle.

"Hmm…" Shinji muttered as he savored the latest bowl. "Now this is good Ramen!"

"That is beyond amazing…" Ramen-guy muttered as he saw Shinji casually eat the

Ramen.

"You want some?" he asked Ayanami.

"Sure…" She answered and took a single noodle with her chopsticks. Upon eating said noodle, she dropped them and turned a bright red color.

"Here!" Ramen-guy shouted out as he gave her a glass of liquid to dissolve the spiciness in the food.

"Too much for you?" Shinji mocked her as he finished the rest of the food before him. Placing a huge wad of cash before Ramen-guy, he said "here you go" before Rei stood behind him and practiced yet another way to test the floor's durability with Shinji's head.

To be continued….

How was that? Any better? Well, I tried my best to do this as good as possible… If it's still bad then… oh well. I guess that's too bad. If anyone noticed, I decided to bounce back and forth between the anime and manga. I actually found some more somewhere… so I'm able to use it for the rest of volume five… After that, I'm still not sure… I also decided to put the falling angel before the black out one because… well… just because I can. And in my opinion, man's greatest edible creation is undoubtedly Ramen! And the spicier the better! On another note, I finally got a job, what this will to my update schedule I'm still not certain about but I hope it won't slow me down too much… That's it I guess… Review if you feel like it.

Later!


	10. Chapter 10

Holy… It's up to ten…! I had no idea I'd go this far… I really did slow down a lot… All last week, I had to wake up early to go to work, by the time I got back from work, I had to go to school, by the time I came back from school I had to go to sleep so I could wake up in time for work… It's like a vicious cycle… Uh, yeah… Anyway, for this chapter, I'm going to go AU about halfway though… I mean, this whole thing is like that, but I mean even more. Why? Because this angel sucks. The last fight was pretty boring and this one's even worse. It's a big spider-thing that cries on them… How cool could I get that to be? In exchange for this boring fight, I'll replace it with a hopefully less-boring one. What else? Oh yeah… I might have to change the rating… There's a whole lotta violence later on… I guess that's enough… here's ten.

----------

"You're finally here?" a dark figure asked of another as they stood in the shadows.

"Hmm… and your report?" a second one answered as they arrived.

"They've retrieved it."

"Oh? And where was it exactly?"

"The south pole."

"So it's moving along as expected…"

"Yes."

"Is there anything else of importance?"

"No."

"Then we'll continue this later, I have school tomorrow."

"Of course." The first shadow answered as the second disappeared.

----------

"Ugh…" Shinji muttered as he sat up on his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he walked out into the hallway.

"Out of the way!" Asuka shouted as she ran past him.

"What the…?" he muttered.

"Move it, Shinji!" Misato yelled as she passed him as well.

"Wark war wawark!" PenPen squawked as he ran through.

"What the hell is going on?" As he arrived at the kitchen, it all made sense.

"Those idiots…" Shinji muttered as he walked over to a large cardboard container. "They just had to eat that didn't they…?"

"Damn you, Shinji!" What the hell is that?" Asuka and Misato shouted once they returned.

"What?" he asked.

"That… thing!" They yelled, pointing at the box on the table.

"Uhh… breakfast?" he said, grabbing one and eating it.

"How can you eat that!" they demanded.

"You mean you can't?"

"Of course not! It nearly killed me with one bite!" Misato told him as she gestured towards it.

"What a waste..." he muttered as he shook his head.

"Answer me, damn it!"

"Sigh… didn't you notice?"

"Notice what!" they demanded.

Sighing again, Shinji lowered the lid and pointed at a very obvious bio-hazard symbol.

"Oh…" "War…" the other three muttered, mentally deciding never to allow Shinji to order anything again.

----------

"Hmph" Asuka suddenly huffed out as she looked out the school window. 'What the hell are those two talking about…?' She wondered to herself as she saw Shinji and Rei sitting by the big tree and talking with each other.

"What's wrong?" Her friend Hikari questioned.

"What!" Asuka replied quickly. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Hikari asked slowly. "It sure looked like something to me…"

"Look," Asuka informed her. "I said it's nothing, so just drop it already!"

"Hmm…" Hikari muttered, glancing knowingly towards her. "Are you sure it's not because of something or… someone?"

"Listen to me already, Hikari! I already told you I wasn't looking at Shinji so leave me alone!"

"I never mentioned him. Not even once."

"Uhh…" She stalled, blushing crimson.

"But was that it…?"

"Argh!" Asuka shouted out and stormed out of the classroom.

----------

"Ikari?" Rei called out to him as they sat by the same tree they normally used.

"Huh…? Oh, what's up…?" He slurred as he awoke.

"I…" She began, lowering her book. "I am not certain that I will survive much longer… it seems as though every battle is far tougher than the last… Even the last fight, if not for you, there's no way I would have made it…"

"Yeah… things are getting rather tough…." He admitted. "Unfortunately, that's the way events have begun to unfold… Perhaps if you knew the consequences of your decisions, you could have chosen an easier path…"

"Is it… still possible to survive?" She asked as her head lowered.

"Of course… Life is always possible to maintain." He stopped for several seconds to gather his thoughts then added "the hard part of it is to keep from dying, but if you can manage that, then there's no way you can lose."

"Keep from dying…" She asked, turning to look at him, "is that not the same thing?"

"It seems that way but, so long as there's someone left at the end, you won't disappear."

"And you?"

"No." He told her and turned away. He bowed his head as he said, "as soon as I go down, I'm staying down."

"Hmm… I just hope I can be there the day you fall." She replied

"Why?" He demanded, turning to look at her. "So you can mock me in my final moments?"

"Of course." She answered.

"Then I'll just take you with me." Shinji threatened.

"You wouldn't…" Rei replied slowly.

"And why not?" He asked.

"What happened to protecting me?" She asked of him, sounding hurt.

"It doesn't count in this situation." He declared.

"And why is that?" the hurt tone in her voice being replaced with anger.

"Because… if you die… all you have to do is reload. Or cheat." He said.

"Cheat…?" She muttered as she realized the truth. "That's why you're so good, aren't you!"

"Oh crap… I said that out loud!" Shinji panicked.

"Damn you!" She shouted at him and struck him with her book "You'd better lend me that gameshark!"

----------

RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING

"Would you answer that damn thing already!" Asuka demanded as Shinji's ring tone continued playing.

"What…?" he asked as he pulled his headphones off.

RING RING RING RING

"Shut that damned thing off!" She repeated.

"What the…? My phone's ringing…" he replied as he heard it.

"Man what an annoying ring-tone…" Asuka told Rei as they let Shinji trail behind while he spoke.

"Yes." She replied. "I have asked him to change it before but he has refused to do so."

"Why don't you just beat him up until he does?" Asuka asked of her.

"No. Violence is not the answer to every problem. It would be foolish to hit someone every time they refused to listen."

"Oh…" 'What the hell? Then why does she keep hitting him?'

"Sorry about that…" Shinji called out to them as he ran forward to catch up.

"Who was it?" Rei asked him.

"Umm… It wasn't anything important… Ahh!" he then shouted out as Rei tripped the leg closest to her and using the hand already behind him, grabbed the back of his head and drove his face into the sidewalk.

"What happened to violence not solving everything!" Asuka demanded as she witnessed another brutal display of violence from her.

"It doesn't." She replied. "It is extremely entertaining, though."

----------

"Huh…?" Shinji muttered as he ran his NERV ID through the scanner in front of the main entrance to headquarters to no effect.

"Hmm…" Rei echoed as she was met with the same results.

"What are you two doing!" Asuka demanded as she approached the terminal and ran her own card through. "Eh?" She exclaimed while repeatedly sliding her card through.

"Stupid thing! It must be broken!" She declared after five minutes of trying to open all the gates.

"Just where did she graduate from, anyway…?" Shinji asked Rei as he witnessed her absolute lack of intelligence while dealing with the problem.

"What was that!" Asuka demanded as she overheard him.

"Isn't it obvious!" He shouted back. "How many people use these doors on a regular basis? Hmm? Are you truly so stupid as to believe that, somehow, all of the doors just happened to break down exactly as we arrived?"

"Shut up already!" She retorted. "They don't work, I figured that out already!"

"Pay attention, dammit! I'm telling you they can't all break at the same time!"

"Ikari…" Rei said from behind him.

"Oh crap…" he muttered as she repeated the same maneuver on him as before. "I guess it's broken now…" He said after his head smashed through the panel.

----------

"This doesn't work either!" Asuka complained as she attempted to use the small panel by a door in a nondescript corridor in NERV.

"This is odd…" Rei commented.

"Has something happened in the Geofront!" Asuka asked.

"A natural assumption." Rei responded.

"Maybe we should call headquarters…" Shinji suggested as he pulled out his phone. "Hello? Yeah. Well, I suppose so… Can you get here…? Alright then, well, bye…"

"So what's going on?" Asuka asked him.

"What?" Shinji replied.

"What did the command center say?"

"The heck would I know? I tried to order a pizza."

"You're an idiot…" She muttered and tried calling herself.

"This doesn't work either!" Asuka kept complaining as she discovered that it was now the phones that didn't work.

"Would you stop saying that already!" Shinji demanded. "You said that exact same thing a few minutes ago!"

"Yeah well, they still don't work!"

"So what now…?" Shinji wondered.

As Rei heard him, she was reminded of something and pulled a small red envelope from her bag.

"Oh!" Asuka exclaimed as she remembered as well.

"What are you looking for?" Shinji asked her.

"What do you think!" She shouted at him. "I'm looking for my emergency manual!"

"Why?" He asked. "Aren't we supposed to report to NERV incase of an emergency?"

"How did you know!" She demanded.

"Isn't it obvious? Unless the instructions say to go home and wait until the super-secret organization decides to reveal it's problems to the rest of the world in hopes that one of us watches the news at the exact moment that story is aired an then contact the others to figure out what to do after headquarters could have been completely annihilated by something we could have stopped in our gigantic bio-mechanical robots, there's not much else to do but go to headquarters ourselves, right?"

"Umm… yeah…" Asuka admitted.

"That is correct…" Rei added as she slowly hid the manual in her bag.

"But before that," Asuka said, trying to recover her lost composure. "We're going to have to decide which of us will be this group's leader. Naturally, I have the best qualifications! Any objections!"

"Hell yeah!" Shinji replied. "There's no way I want to follow someone who took nearly a half-hour to figure out there was an emergency!"

"What!"

"In place of you, I declare myself leader!" Shinji claimed.

"I do not think so." Rei interrupted as she knocked Shinji to the ground. "If anyone is to be the leader, it shall be me."

"Why you!" Shinji demanded.

Turning towards him, she proceeded to mercilessly beat him into silence. "Any objections?" Rei asked Asuka as she finished.

"Not at all…" She replied.

"This is the access port for route seven." Rei informed the others as they approached a big metal door with R-07 painted on it.

"But the doors don't work." Asuka complained.

"Moron…" Shinji said. "It's obviously supposed to be opened manually."

"Exactly!" Asuka countered. "It has to be opened _man_ually."

"Damn…" Shinji muttered as he realized their intentions.

----------

"Where the hell are we?" Shinji wondered as they walked along a dark corridor. "This usually only takes two minutes… We're lost aren't we…?"

"Shut up, Ikari." Rei demanded. "We are not lost. It is taking longer because the emergency passage is long and winding."

"Liar. We've been walking in a straight line. Just admit we're lost!"

"We are not lost." She repeated and kicked him into the wall. "There is a shortcut here."

Walking over to an air-duct, she pointed at it. "We can get there through here."

"Right…" Shinji muttered. "One thing I've always wondered was how air-ducts can stay so clean… And why would an organization as top-secret as this one make it so easy to break in?"

"…" Rei responded as she tried to think of any kind of response and, failing to do so, replied in the usual manner. That is by driving her fist into his face.

"Now what do we do?" Asuka asked as they arrived at a fork in the road.

"Why is it called a fork?" Shinji said. "It's not even remotely close to a fork… You can't just pick it up and fork things with it so why call it that? Why not a spoon or a watermelon or something…?"

"A watermelon?" Asuka asked.

"Why not? It makes as much sense to say 'they arrived at a watermelon in the road' as a fork, doesn't it?"

"Umm… yeah, sure… just call it a watermelon in the road…"

"What watermelon?" Shinji asked her. "There aren't any watermelons around here… Honestly Asuka, this is an emergency, there's no time to mess around like that… We have to concentrate if we want to get there in time to help if anything's wrong. Save the bad jokes for later."

"What the hell!" She demanded "You're the one who said that!"

"Yeah, sure… Just keep thinking that."

"If you two are done being stupid, we should head to the left." Rei said.

"To the left?" Shinji asked as he turned to look towards her.

"Yes." She replied.

"In that case, I'll go to the right."

"I am the leader so I order you to go to the left."

"No way! With your sense of direction you'd just get us lost again!"

"Fine… Go your own way. I'll be at the command center for when you get there."

"Right…" he replied as he walked off.

"And you?" Rei asked. "Which path do you choose?"

"I'm not following that idiot, so I'll go to the left." Asuka said.

----------

'Good, they're gone…' Shinji thought to himself as he heard their footsteps recede into the darkness. Stepping out of the shadows he had concealed himself in, he ran in the opposite directions as he pulled out his phone.

"Hey, you there?" he asked the person he had called. "Yeah, I'm alone… So what's wrong...? Are you sure…? Right… I'll be there in a few minutes… No, just wait… How many…? Okay, just stay out of sight for now…"

As he traveled down the corridor, he stepped through an access port hidden along the wall. He arrived at a near maze of machinery but he wound his way through with an ability that could only be possible if the person had completely memorized the layout of the location.

'So they're finally making a move…?' Shinji thought. 'It's about damn time… I was starting to think I was wrong…'

Arriving at an open passage, he ran forward and leapt over the small piles of debris littering the ground. 'Looks like an explosion…' he realized as he stepped though a collapsed wall.

'Gotta hurry…' As he ran over a fallen beam, he leapt over the rubble of another wall, landing on a large concrete slab. He jumped off of it and ran along the wall for the length of the room.

'Where the hell are they!' he demanded as he ran through a cloud of dust which had just recently been part of the building. 'There!' he exclaimed as he heard gunfire thundering ahead of him. In the adjacent area, the same man who had confronted him in the graveyard was pinned down by three others. He was trapped behind a wall of rubble due to the hail of bullets flying above and beside him.

'Hmph…' Shinji thought. 'I told that idiot to wait…' Seeing a fourth man rounding the barricade, he decided to take immediate action. Sliding a knife from within his sleeve, he rushed forward and, before the man even realized the person beside him, he collapsed to the floor, a crimson spray leading the way.

"The hell?" One of the original three exclaimed as they witnessed their comrade's fate.

As Shinji leapt free from the corpse, he ran towards the one farthest from the others.

"Ahh!" The man shouted out as a blade was thrust into his skull. Shinji used the imbedded knife as a handle to twist the man into become a shield from the spray of bullets rushing towards him. He rolled to the side of the lead-riddled body and, with the spin generated by his movement, launched the small blade into the man's chest.

As the final one opened fire on him, Shinji ducked under the man's aim and, sidestepping to the left several steps from the soldier's current position, he rushed forward and drove the heel of his foot into his enemy's knee. As his opponent crumpled forward, Shinji relieved him of the pistol strapped to his waist and imbedded a single round into his forehead.

"You alright, Gehirn" He called out to the man as pulled his knife free.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded. "But what the hell was that? Are you hung-over or something? That was really sloppy…"

"You're one to talk… How the hell did you get yourself surrounded like that?"

"I was ambushed…" Gehirn replied as he dusted himself off. "Wait a minute… Since when do you use weapons?"

"No choice…"

"It's gone that far?"

"Yeah… So how many left?"

"There's about seven in the next room, not sure how many after that…"

"Any idea what they want?" Shinji then asked, checking for spare ammunition for his newly acquired weapon.

"No. Our orders were to eliminate all intruders." Gehirn replied as he searched through the corpses for a weapon.

"Right… Well, let's get going." As Shinji finished telling him, he walked over to the entrance of the next area.

"You have a plan, right?" Gehirn asked him.

"Obviously." Shinji replied, sounding slightly annoyed at his doubt.

"Really! What is it?"

"Run in, kill everyone, leave."

"That's it." Gehirn questioned incredulously.

"Do you have a problem with it?" Shinji demanded, pointing his gun at Gehirn's head.

"Not at all." He answered quickly.

Slipping into the room, Shinji immediately took stock of his surroundings. Gehirn was right in that there were seven adversaries in the room. What they hadn't counted on was the machine-gun nest which had been set up at the far end of where Shinji had entered.

Assessing the danger he was in, he jumped to the side, dodging the oncoming fire by millimeters.

'Dammit!' Shinji cursed inwardly as he felt a round penetrate his foot. A single bullet entered at the base of his ankle, shattering it completely.

The slowly oozing blood from his wound was reflected in his eyes in a bright crimson hue.

The rage of seeing himself injured began to slowly imbue Shinji.

The far too familiar sight of red unlocked the darker side which he had desperately tried to destroy.

As bloodlust began rising in his mind, it banished all logical thoughts from it.

To say he had become an animal would be incorrect.

Never has a beast walked on land whose sole purpose was death. Born not to live, but to kill.

Never has a beast walked on land been imbued with such absolute wrath. Killed not to rest, but to suffer.

Never has a beast walked on land who could now stand against him.

"Shinji, are you alright!" Gehirn called out to him. "My god…" He exclaimed as he realized what was about to occur.

"Ha ha ha ha ha…" Shinji's beastly laugh rumbled across the small room as he stood. His opponents, not bothering to figure out what was happening, opened fire on him. Shinji did not so much as attempt to dodge. All rounds hit true. The pummeled and pierced through him, his blood coming down in torrents from the countless injuries he now had. Shinji, however, continued to laugh…

In a split second, he was twenty feet further in, with his right arm imbedded in the chest of a man. With a sick, sadistic smile, Shinji looked into his eyes as he crushed his heart.

"My god!" Another unfortunate soldier screamed out as they witnessed Shinji lick some of the blood from his hand.

That was to be that man's final words as Shinji ripped part of his spine out from the front of his neck.

As a third opened fire on him, he turned and walked slowly towards him, as if he was not aware of the surely fatal hits he was experiencing.

As the clip in his gun ran dry, so did his blood as it drained from the two halves which now lay on the floor.

It took only another man's arms being ripped off of his body for the remaining three to scream in terror and run in absolute fear from the demon that now faced them.

Shinji leapt towards their retreating backs.

He caught one of them, a young woman, and proceeded to drive his hand through the back of her head.

As the other two turned back to look at the distance between them and the hell-spawn behind them, they were caught in Shinji's grip. He grasped them both by the neck and lifted them upward, looking into their eyes as his iron grip enclosed them, shattering their spines simultaneously.

Dropping the two limp corpses to the side, Shinji slowly made his way forward. Leaving a large trail of blood in his wake, most of it his own.

"You bastard!" A man who had witnessed his friends' brutal end shouted out as he launched a hand-grenade at him.

"Ha ha…" Shinji chuckled as it detonated against him.

"Did I get the monster?" the soldier wondered as he saw part of the roof above Shinji collapse. His answer was given in the form of his head rolling down the corridor.

Shinji staggered forward, the blast having done serious damage to him. He was so intent in where he was going, that he completely missed the woman who was cringing on the floor to the side of the main path. As the blood continued to drain from him, so did the bloodlust which had enveloped him up to that point.

Not because his rage was fading, it was his life which was slowly leaving him.

"Very impressive!" A voice called out to him from farther along the corridor.

Shinji looked up but could not discern more than a dark shape due to the blood seeping into his eyes. Knowing he lacked the time needed to banter with his opponent, he charged forward, fully intending this one to be added to the body count.

'What the hell?' the man thought as he saw Shinji charge towards him. He saw his fist swing towards his heart and merely stepped back to completely avoid the strike.

Shinji followed through with a left to the face which his opponent neatly transformed into a move which threw him onto the ground.

As he slowly rose, he again charged the man, the same strike, the same target. This time the man moved behind Shinji and delivered a powerful strike, smashing him into and through the wall he hit.

"What the hell is this!" the man demanded. "You're nothin' but a god-damned animal!"

He moved over to Shinji's slowly rising form and kicked him upward. Shinji struck and fractured the ceiling and, as he fell downward, the man positioned himself underneath him. As he descended to about a foot above the man, he struck upward, slamming Shinji in the stomach with the full force of his strike added onto the rebounded force of his previous kick.

The sound of splintering bones was audible after the initial strike, Shinji lay suspended above the ground, a small amount of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. It was only a small amount because he had lost most of what he had.

"Don't you dare tell me that's it!" the man demanded of Shinji's unconscious form. "I've spent my entire life striving to be as great and powerful as you were… the stories I heard about you were the only thing that kept me alive… and this is it?"

The man dropped him to the ground, kicking him away from him as one would a piece of trash.

"This berserker form… According to what I had heard, you never used it… Your power was said to be so great that no one else could even stand against you… The men who made us all were even afraid…" The man's tirade abruptly ended as he saw Shinji rising again. The man's eyes went red as his berserker rage encircled him.

"You truly wish to test yourself?" Shinji asked of him.

"Grr… I will kill you…!" he shouted to him.

"I wish that were possible…" he replied as he stood to face him. The red light was gone from his eyes, though they were not back to their normal hue either. From within his eyes shone something calming yet infinitely more frightening than the murderous intent they previously held.

"Raagh!" The man shouted out as he ran at Shinji with even greater force than he had previously showed. His fist was neatly caught by Shinji's lightly outstretched palm. There was a moment of absolute silence as the strike connected, then a sickening crunch as all of the bones in the man's arms were pulverized in an instant.

"What the hell are you!" he demanded, the extreme pain of his injury having cut through his rage.

"I am no one." He replied to the kneeling man before him. "I am naught but a messenger…"

"What!" the man exclaimed as he heard him. As realization dawned on him, all of the small bits of information he had gathered, every scrap of rumor collected on the one standing before him suddenly fell into place. "I… I see…" the man said.

Shinji smiled down on him, nodded slowly, and placed his hand on the man's head. He muttered something to the man.

The one kneeling before him smiled and, tears coursing freely down his face, muttered a faint "amen" as his skull was crushed.

"Shinji, what the hell happened!" Gehirn demanded as he walked into the room.

"Nothing." Shinji replied. "It's all collateral damage. That's it for our mission, right?"

"Yeah, that's all… Anything you want me to tell them for the debriefing?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Shinji muttered. "Tell them this job sucks."

"Ha ha ha… Right, you might want to get cleaned up… looks like you're bleeding to death."

"Yeah… Who would have though bodies bled that much…" Shinji complained.

"Oh yeah…" Gehirn responded. "Do you have any ideas how many suits I've lost to blood-stains? Anyway, I've got to get going."

"I'll contact you later."

As Gehirn left, Shinji slumped against the wall.

'Damn…' he thought to himself. 'I'm all out… maybe I should have let her know beforehand…' Shinji's strength finally left him and he completely slid downward.

'So… this is it…? If this is what I've been wanting, why am I so afraid…? I'm sorry, Ayanami…' Shinji's thoughts went silent as he slipped into darkness…

----------

"How is he?" A voice asked another.

"I'm not entirely sure…" the second responded. "He lost a lot of blood… he had a few hundred bullets in him… he's got more broken bones than I'd willingly count…"

"But can you help him?" the first pleaded.

"Help him? Are you serious? Just who do you think I am!" the second demanded.

"You're just going to leave him like that?"

"Of course I am! I already did everything else."

"Oh… I see, Doctor Akagi…"

"Don't worry too much, Rei, I'm sure he'll be fine… You did inject him right when you found him, right? Then he'll pull through…"

"Yes…" She replied as she left the room. A single though running through her mind 'I almost lost him…'

----------

"Ugh…" Shinji muttered as he sat up. It was a few hours after his fight and he was in Ritsuko's lab.

"You're awake!" Ritsuko asked.

"Just where do you think you're going!" She then demanded as she saw him getting up. "There's no way I'm letting you leave in that condition!"

"I'm… fine." Shinji said.

"Are you stupid! You're half-dead!" She insisted.

"Halfway there…" was his only reply as he exited the room.

To be continued…

Um… yeah… that's it… Ugh… I have no idea why I did that… Was it good? Bad? I don't know… Anyway, the next angel's the one that infects the Magi so… I might go down the same path again… Well, only if what I did was any good… If I actually do it, though, I'll reveal a whole lot more about Shinji… Hmm… Should I or shouldn't I… Does anyone wonder what the hell happened in the fight? Well I'm not telling. Not yet, anyway… What else… Oh right, it'll still be funny. Or at least as funny as it's been… Uh, yeah… I think that's about it… Any questions, comments, suggestions, complaints, death threats, lawsuits, etc… let me know. I do my best to conform to the suggestions which have rarely been given, but even if I don't, they still influence stuff that happens later on… I have no idea what I'm saying anymore…

Later!


End file.
